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Java Web Framework similar with Ruby on Rails paradigm

in your opinion, what is java web framework that most close to or similar to the paradigm of the Ruby on Rails (like convention over configuration, DRY, noXML, etc), but without the need to learn scripting languages ​​like Groovy. And of course have a great documentation and community.

Take a look at Grails which follows the paradigms of Ruby on Rails.

You can take a look to Play Framework it follow MVC and RESTful architectures.

Maybe too late, but have looked at Spring Roo?

This question is a bit old, but this information may still be useful for people looking for a good java framework:
Try ninja framework (http://www.ninjaframework.org). I have tried various java web frameworks and this one was by far the easiest to setup and use. Just follow the tutorial on their page.
Developing with it is very easy, ninja web projects are standard Maven projects so you can open them with any ide that supports Maven. For example, you can open the project with Netbeans, and have the development server running in a commandprompt/terminal window. Any time you save your changes the development server will pickup your changes and restart very quickly.
Or you can use a standard text editor if you want.
Very comfortable to develop with. You can also debug very easily from Netbeans (http://www.ninjaframework.org/documentation/debugging.html)
Note: if you use an ide like netbeans, you dont actually run the project from netbeans, you just edit your changes on the ide and save. The development server picks up the changes automatically.

I think Stripes is what you are after.
http://www.stripesframework.org/display/stripes/Home

You can also take a look at Java on Rails
http://www.javaonrails.net/

SWT or Swing for Plugin Project

I'm creating a plugin project that will have a menu and toolbar item, that when clicked, will open a dialog for user interaction (input, searching, etc.). Should I create the dialog using SWT or Swing?

One advantage of doing it in Swing is that you don't have to supply any other libraries, because Swing is part of JRE. With SWT you have to do it and you have to have separate dlls for specific platforms.
UPDATE:
Since you mentioned that you have to create Eclipse plugin, I think you have a clear choice here - SWT. It is what Eclipse is based on.

SWT.
Debate over the merits of Swing and SWT is irrelevant. Your plug-in will integrate with a platform built on SWT. Using the same user-interface toolkit will simplify your development and testing, and produce better results.
There are cases where it's useful to use Swing within Eclipse, such as when you have an existing codebase that would be impractical to port. There is an SWT/AWT bridge; I have not used it.

Like #eugener, I prefer Swing to SWT, but both are rich, well-maintained frameworks that will serve the purpose. NetBeans and Eclipse are widely used exemplars. SWT binaries for popular platforms aren't too hard to integrate. The SWT FAQ may offer some perspective.
You'll need some other criteria to decide.

Since you're integrating Code Barrel into Eclipse, and SWT is part of the Eclipse project...
Actually, you should be looking at the Eclipse Plug-in Architecture and see how it works.

GUI framework Java

I am looking for some framework or toolkit (style drag and drop) for creating gui in Java. I need to do quite complex application with dockings, toolbars, tables etc.
Which one would be best?

The Netbeans Platform might be what you are looking for, it is based on Swing, and the Netbeans IDE can be a showcase for it, check http://platform.netbeans.org/
I think the equivalent on SWT is http://www.eclipse.org/platform/

If you're looking for a GUI builder, NetBeans has a decent one. Otherwise, you can just write it yourself in Swing or SWT?

Start reading Swing Architecture and then use Netbeans UI builder and finally complement it with JIDE Software libraries.
JIDE have several libraries, for instance:
JIDE Docking:
JIDE Grids:
And many more. The only inconvenient I see is, you need a good understanding on how does Swing works before using it ( or you can acquire that knowledge in the process )

eclipse rcp, spring rich client, griffon
all of these frameworks are good to avoid writing boiler-plate code all over again (support for docking, window management, dialog management, preferences management).
i must note that complete drag 'n drop is not supported in none of them out of the box, but there are IDE's that help you in building Swing panels, components, ... in a visual editor. both Eclipse IDE and NetBeans IDE have a GUI Builder/visual editor.
my prefered choice is spring rich client because it's easy to get started, it's swing-based, it integrates with docking frameworks, component libraries, ... and it uses spring.
if you need a pluggable architecture then you should take a look at eclipse, or netbeans.
edited: i mean eclipse rcp

Is it possible to use Visual Studio as an IDE for Google Web Toolkit?

As a long time user of Visual Studio, I feel comfortable using this as my primary IDE for editing code (I primarily code in C#/ASP.NET). Lately I've been looking more in depth into the Google Web Toolkit (or GWT) as a potential tool for building rapid web client tools for the web. I would therefore like to know whether it is possible to edit Java syntax, and otherwise set Visual Studio up to built web applications for GWT?

The option i m using is using Eclipse with an IntelliJ Idea key mapping ( i m a resharper fan and I miss it)
Another option is take the plunge and get IntelliJ Idea, its a fantastic IDE and it was really easy to get used to it, it has some nice pluggins for GWT development too
Cheers

What is Visual Studio's support for Java like, I assuming that its GWT support is not as good. ;)
I think you are better off using an IDE which actually supports GWT.
You could have a look at http://www.jetbrains.com/idea/features/gwt.html The demo is rather old (from 2006) but if you haven't seen IntelliJ it might be interesting.

Visual Studio used to be the best Java IDE in the 90's.
Since then much better alternatives came out.
The 3 most commonly used right now are:
Eclipse
NetBeans
IntelliJ.
Microsoft stopped supporting Java development a long time ago. At that time Java was still at 1.3. With Java 1.5 the language was extended with generics and other constructs that Visual Studio will certainly not support.

If you manage to use Visual Studio for Java (or maybe J# could work?), integrate Maven in it and then use the maven gwt plugin to translate the java to ajax, it shoooould be possible.
But this is just an idea, would probably take a lot of efford, if it works at all.

Matisse in Eclipse

I have just installed Eclipse 3.4 and found out that there is not a plugin to create Swing applications yet. I also have found that there is a Matisse implementation in MyEclipse IDE, but I'd like to now whether there is such a Matisse plugin for free.

Instatiations Swing Designer is the best in my opinion. We settled on it after trying may different Eclipse plugins.

there isnt one for free. myeclipse is the only way to run matisse inside eclipse.

Although this is not a true answer to your question, you may as well look at alternative solutions in terms of layout management: Matisse and GroupLayout are neither the only way, nor the best one, to define your GUI forms.
I would suggest you take a look at:
MigLayout (very powerful and quite
simple)
and DesignGridLayout (quite powerful
and very simple)
Both are open source and have a friendly license (not GPL).
A quick search on Google will give you the links immediately.
Disclaimer: I am one of DesignGridLayout both project owners, but I point you to it because I'm convinced it provides a better way to define Swing layouts.

I did a quick Google search and found that you could use Netbeans Matisse and Eclipse in parallel:
NetBeans Wiki: UsingNetbeansMatisseAndEclipseInParallel
It seems to basically involve building the Swing GUI in Netbeans and doing the other coding tasks from within Eclipse.