StudyBlue.com is built entirely with a product known as the Google Web Toolkit (GWT). Without boring everyone with the nerdy details, GWT basically allows for the construction of massive scale web applications using the very popular, well documented coding language known as Java.  If you’ve been a user of StudyBlue for more than a few minutes, you’ve probably (hopefully) discovered some features that feel a lot like a desktop application as opposed to a web application. The easiest one to notice is the use of dragable popup-windows that are embedded directly into the site.

A lot of “Web 2.0″ sites like to make use of this dynamic, fast-acting responsiveness (known as AJAX).  You’ve probably noticed AJAX on Facebook (send a message) or Netflix (hover over a movie). Speaking from experience, I can tell you it takes an impressive team of talented programmers and designers to pull off this sleak feel.  Thanks to Google and GWT, we’ve been able to enhance the user experience with functionality and features that used to require a small army of developers.  We think that the GWT platform should provide us with the cutting-edge tools necessary to keep delivering smart study features for years to come.

So, if you’ll be in San Francisco at the end of May, stop by and check us out at the Google I/O Conference.  We’ll be hanging around the Developer Sandbox.