Choosing a Web User Interface library

Question

I was asked by the company I work to create a web user interface for a fleet managment system they have developed.

This system is written in java so I thought that the library I should compatible with java or language neutral. Additionally it should be free/open source, as well as full-featured

After a small search I found the following libraries:

1) http://dhtmlx.com/index.shtml

2) https://vaadin.com/home

Currently I face the following critical question: should I rely on a server side library for the creation of the User Interface or should I prefer a client side one ?

What is more are there any other important web user interface libraries that I should be aware of ?

Since I do not have any experience in the topic, every advice will be very useful : )

Answer 1

I'd say go for Vaadin. It's Swing like development without the HTML, JavaScript, CSS and any other "helpfull libraries". Even though this is a polyglot development time, pick simplicity and productivity over flexibility. You'll thank yourself in the long run.

Answer 2

I personally recomend you to use a server-side framework (server side library). Performance is an important thing so why should your business logic be on the client side? You have to do a validation always on server-side so why to do it twice? You are more independent from different end-devices like tablets, smartphones and whatever. To sum up: let the client side for UI and do the rest on server-side.

I have no performance problems with vaadin.