Is it worthy learning JavaFX?

Hi,

Do you think it is worthy learning JavaFX? Currently I don't need to work with rich interfaces.
Is it a free technology, or it depends on Oracle servers?

Thank you

JavaFX is free.

If you would be using the language/technology somewhere then its worthy learning it, otherwise also you get to know about the latest advancements in the programming world. But without application, the knowledge would die out soon (And I have experienced this- My JavaFX knowledge is almost tending to Zero and would be negative soon

)

But JavaFX Script is on its way out, because JavaFX 2 doesn't support it.

Agree with Luigi. Moreover, JavaFX 2.0 is a Java API like any other, obviating the need to learn a different syntax.

While using bindings in JavaFX 2.0 is at present rather verbose when compared to the terse bindings of JavaFX Script, the introduction of closures in Java 8 will alleviate that.

Possibly the greatest advantage JavaFX offers over the other UI packages (Swing, AWT) is the ability to customize the UI via CSS, supporting both node-specific and inherited styles. On the down side (IMHO), the API is high level in the extreme, making it difficult to customize via inheritance.

Till date, the single most disturbing 'feature' of FX that has come to my attention is that showing a modal dialog doesn't block the thread of execution -- and the FX team maintains that the behavior is "by design"

This is contrary to modality concepts not only in Swing but in other, non-related visual platforms such as VB and VFP.

i think it is worth spending a day or two to learn the basics just to see a different way of doing things. in some ways it reminds me of the basics we used in the early 80's. we could do things like:
x = "hello"
println x
x = 27
i am glad however that javaFX 2 will go back to standard java syntax.
i imagine that they will maintain backwards compatibility so compiled javaFX script will still run ok.

Randall - what you just typed is valid Groovy... you might like to check it out!

x = "hello" println x x = 27 hello Result: 27

Randall Twede wrote:i imagine that they will maintain backwards compatibility so compiled javaFX script will still run ok.

Nope. There are already incompatible changes in the API. Many of the FX 1.x classes don't exist in 2.0.

No backwards compatibilty. There is no JavaFX script, just Java APIs for JavaFX. But there's is a fork of JavaFX script that is- Visage.