Stephen Chin

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Recent posts by Stephen Chin

Alfred,

We chose to package most of the samples using Web Start, because in our experience it has the best deployment experience for users regardless of their browser or OS configuration. However, any of the samples can be run via Web Start or as Applets simply by toggling the deployment settings in the supplied Netbeans project and rebuilding.

As an aside, the Mobile examples in Chapter 10 are actually deployed as applets, so if you want to see a JavaFX example running as an applet you can go here:
http://jfxtras.org/portal/pro-javafx-platform?p_r_p_564233524_tag=chapter+10
14 years ago
Andrew,

Weiqi has a whole section in Chapter 4 dedicated to Java and JavaFX interoperability, which you will definitely find useful. It is really pretty transparent to call Java and use Java data types, including arrays and lists. Also, by using Java interfaces you can have your JavaFX and Java classes extend the same class hierarchy, making the integration even more seamless.
14 years ago
Enterprise jokes aside, I think there is a valid question about JavaFX's readiness for building typical business UIs with graphs, charts, forms, and tables of data.

With the 1.2 release of JavaFX, they made huge strides in approaching this with introduction of new Controls for all the standard fields you would need to build a UI form such as check boxes, radio buttons, lists, etc. They also introduced a full graphing and charting library that Dean covered in Chapter 5, and is perfect for data analysis views.

There are still some shortcomings, such as the lack of a good Table or Tree control; however, there are already folks working on filling these gaps, including the JFXtras project that we cover in Chapter 8 (http://jfxtras.org/).
14 years ago
Palla,

Pro JavaFX was written for a wide range of users. The first few chapters cover the basics so you can dive in with zero knowledge of JavaFX, while the later chapters get into advanced topics like layouts, mobile, and third-party libraries that even experienced users can learn from.

We have quite a breadth of different samples in the book ranging from simple and straightforward to complex and more business oriented. I would take a look at the Pro JavaFX samples page where all the book samples are published to get a better idea: http://projavafx.com/portal/samples

I am not sure I completely understood you last question, but we have screenshots showing how to setup a new JavaFX project in NetBeans.
14 years ago
To answer David's question, the only other JVM language we cover integration with in the book is Java, which is a very common use case. A lot of the other JVM languages are targeted at server-side Java applications which you can transparently integrate with using Java's web service support.

Griffon is an interesting case where Andres and the team have been doing some interesting client integration work between JavaFX and Groovy. It is still in the early stages, but I think there are some interesting possibilities down the road from an alternate Groovy-based DSL for JavaFX to a Grails-like application templating system for quickly building large JavaFX applications.
14 years ago
Andrew,

Very interesting question.

On the simple, firewall-safe side of things, JavaFX comes with an HttpRequest mechanism that could be used together with a server that supports HTTP server push in order to do notification from server to client.

On the complicated, but very powerful side of things, you could do a full HTTP server like you suggested. JavaFX applications can take full advantage of any existing Java libraries (even a full http server like Jetty), so it is conceivable you could spawn a whole client-side server for bi-directional messaging. At least two caveats with going down a path like this are that you may run into firewall issues on the client, and will need to have a signed application to get permission to start a ServerSocket.
14 years ago
There is always room for good new technologies, and a little competition in the RIA space can only make things better.

With the caveat that I know enough Flex to get myself in trouble, and zero Silverlight, here are some of the advantages I see that JavaFX brings to the table:
  • Seamless Mobile Development - write your code once and run it on desktop, mobile, and (soon) TV
  • Java Integration - Use your favorite Java libraries from JavaFX, wrap JavaFX in Swing and vice-versa... everything compiles down to Java bytecodes
  • JavaFX Script - This is probably the most controversial, but I see the JavaFX Script language as a huge productivity booster. It combines the best of a statically typed language like Java with declarative markup like XML, and adds in powerful features like binding and animation. Once you try writing code in JavaFX Script it is hard to go back!


  • This is just scratching the surface of what JavaFX has to offer.
    14 years ago
    Saritha,

    Here is a link to the system requirements: http://java.sun.com/javafx/1/reference/system-requirements-1-2.html

    Other than that, JavaFX applications compile down to regular Java bytecodes, so it should run and deploy just like any other Java application.

    If you need more information I would also recommend checking out the JavaFX FAQ: http://javafx.com/faq/

    Cheers,
    --Steve
    14 years ago