Paul Krill
Indeed, Sun will have its work cut out for it, taking on giants such as Adobe and Microsoft in the rich Internet development space. If this competition can be likened to a race between Olympic runners, it might be broadcast like this:
"In Lane 1, we have Adobe with its Flash and attendant Flex technologies, downloaded millions of times and popular on high-profile sites like YouTube."
"In Lane 2, it's AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), the popular RIA technique used in countless Web sites."
"In Lane 3, its up-and-coming newcomer Silverlight, backed by software giant Microsoft and now being leveraged by NBC's prominent Olympics Web site."
"And in Lane 4, we have Sun's JavaFX used by Web properties such as - well, it's still in development."
It is from this set of circumstances that Sun intends to make JavaFX a player.??
"This isn't the type of market where only one technology is going to win," said Sun's Jacob Lehrbaum, senior product line manager for JavaFX. But Lehrbaum acknowledged the hill Sun must climb.
"Clearly, we do have to compete for developer mindshare," Lehrbaum said.
Developers and industry analyst Jeffrey Hammond think Sun has a shot, especially in the burgeoning market for applications running on mobile devices.
"I think Sun has the opportunity to catch up very quickly in that space," said Hammond, senior analyst at Forrester.
"I would say that the JavaFX platform looks very good. It has a lot of potential," said Andres Almiray, a software developer at Oracle and a blogger.??
"It probably should have been announced three, four, five years ago," Almiray said. "The good thing is that it's finally here."
An anonymous blogger identified only as "geekycoder" lauded the technology: "Technically, JavaFX enables me to leverage [the] Java skill set and Java technology that I am more comfortable with to deliver a compelling RIA solution. Because synergy between JavaFX and Java is excellent and the fact that JavaFX is built on the Java platform means that I can ensure that I have one of the best and supportive platforms to work in. In addition, JavaFX will enable me to be more productive in making it easier and quicker to create RIA solutions," for Web 2.0.
First revealed at the JavaOne conference in San Francisco in May 2007, JavaFX still is a work in progress. The official JavaFX Web page describes the project as "a powerful client technology for creating rich Internet applications with immersive media and content across the multiple screens of your life." It features the JavaFX Script scripting language for building rich Internet applications for desktop, mobile, TV and other consumer platforms.
"JavaFX Script, the language of JavaFX, doesn't replace Swing, the core Java GUI toolkit, but provides an alternative way of programming that hopefully will bring Java technology to the masses," according to geekycoder.
A preview version of a software development kit for JavaFX for desktop applications, supporting Windows and Macintosh, was released late last month. (InfoWorld has reviewed this SDK.) Further deliverables are planned. JavaFX for Desktop 1.0, featuring a profile for desktop and browser deployments and a general-release SDK, is due this fall. JavaFX for Mobile 1.0, adding mobile support, is planned for spring 2009 release. TV support also is planned.
SilverlightJava Virtual MachineNetBeansAdobe PhotoshopJavaFX ScriptJava Runtime Environmentinner classesopen source effortA FAQ page on a Sun Web site was found this spring to have reported that tools such as the compiler, runtime engine, player and tools currently under development would not be open source.
The compiler, however, has been open-sourced as have parts of the graphics libraries and some tools. Sun plans to further discuss its open source strategy for JavaFX with the Desktop 1.0 release, Lehrbaum said.
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