Is JavaFX ready for prime time?

Hello Gail and Paul,

For JavaFX to be ready for prime time, I must be able to do the same things with it that swing does now. To add swing functionality in a JavaFX app do you recommend using swing components directly? An example of a missing component is JTable. How difficult is it to incorporate swing components?

Thanks,
Harry

The fact that JavaFX doesn't have a Data Grid has made me question its viability since the beginning. This is one the most basic components needed for any real world RIA. And sticking a JTable inside a JavaFX app doesn't cut it.

Hi Harry-

Yes JavaFX includes a variety of Swing components, but not all of them. But you can without too much difficulty use those that are missing, since JavaFX lets you access the entire Java API.

The JavaFX site has several good examples. Here are two really good ones:

Using JXMapViewer
Mixing Swing and JavaFX

I wanted to add the following thought.

Several of the engineers on the JavaFX UI team came from Swing. At JavaOne this year, they expressed a great interest in providing the functionality of Swing in JavaFX, but with improvements. So, look to using the "native" UI controls for both functionality and customizing ("skinning"). 1.2 is a start, but know that effort will be spent on developing these UI controls. Eventually, you'll be able to do everything without using Swing! (my opinion)