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WidgetServer is a component based, server-side, Java/XML rich-client-framework which enables an application to runas any of the following without any change and without loss of functionality:

• an application with a rich Web client based on AJAX (HTML, XML, CSS, Javascript)
• an application with a simple Web client based on HTML and CSS
• a standalone application with a Swing GUI
• a client/server application with a thin Swing client
• or a mobile application on different devices like PDAs or Smartphones

It also allows you the option of developing a GUI using HTML markup templates, a Java API like Swing, XML markup, or any combination.

The makers say what makes this framework stand apart from the others out there are that:

• WidgetServer handles various client technologies with a single API
• A powerful, template based rendering engine offers full control over the generated HTML/CSS code, whenever needed
• AJAX is integrated transparentely but can be switched off by configuration completely or for specific (e.g. mobile) browsers only
• Most GUI event types are supported (Action, MouseMove, Click, KeyPressed, DoubleClick, Select, Scroll, Drag, Drop, ...)
• A plugin-concept makes the WidgetServer component-set easy to extend
• WidgetServer is mostly server-side processing. The JavaScript library has only about 1000 lines of code - it is fast and effective

The WidgetServer framework is available in two different versions. A commercial one, which has a highly optimized rendering and communication engine and an open source version which offers widely similar functionality but with lower performance. Applications run unchanged with both versions of the framework.

The open source version is released under the terms of the LGPL. WidgetServer commercial release is distributed free of charge as binary package under a proprietary license, but it is not open source.