I never fully understood JavaFX script. It seemed like a nice enough language, but it neither completely replaced Java nor integrated well with it. Furthermore, some of the features of its library were sorely missing from Java, but not accessible from it. This is why it is refreshing to see the new
JavaFX Roadmap. Its main tenet is that JavaFX script is being discontinued and that JavaFX becomes a framework for Java with many exciting features:
- Binding API: Well, OK, yet another one. Here is hoping that it will not be too cumbersome and find broad acceptance. The API will include observable collections (which are handy for GUI lists and tables).
- Media framework: for audio and video. About time.
- HTML5 support: parsing and display. Also desperately needed in Swing (SWT already has reasonable HTML display support).
- New table control: Apart from better looks, combining it with observable collections should get one the comfort offered by Glazed Lists.
- New rich text control.
Finally Java gets back the human resources that had been moved to JavaFX script by Sun. The new JavaFX features will make it much more appealing for developing desktop applications.
Update 2010-12-15: Why the new JavaFX makes sense
7 comments:
Bad news is that nobody is building desktop applications anymore anyway. JavaFX had some nice ideas around rich internet applications, I wonder what will happen to that ideas.
@Fatih: What features are you talking about? Are they on the list? For internet apps, I would stick to GWT. But I think there is still a place for internet-connected desktop applications.
JavaFX was directed against Microsoft Silverlight and Adobe Flex, with a competitive software stack for rich internet apps.
I only remember one feature in this regards, the new applet plugin (from which Java SE was profiting also). But there were supposedly more features in this direction coming in the name of JavaFX.
You are right, there might still be a place for desktop applications. But "still" here means it will die soon enough.
I think JavaFX script’s scene graph also served the purpose of bringing features to the JVM that make it more competitive with Flash. But why create a new language (just) for this kind of features?
As for pure desktop apps being a dying breed, I agree. On the other hand, one could say that desktop apps and web apps meet in the middle. Both sides are currently heavily borrowing from each other and Chrome OS will only increase this trend.
BTW: I’ve written about desktop apps and web apps meeting in the middle.
Isn't it kind of funny that Oracle buries JavFX script, while Nokia starts pushing their "QML", which looks almost like a carbon copy of JavaFX Script for Qt?
http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2009/05/13/qt-declarative-ui/
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