An Introduction to JavaFX and its Future Prospects

Since the launch of JDK11, Oracle is trying to make JavaFX easier. It is being tried to make available separately to download and in decoupled from. Due to these changes, even new contributors can participate easily in the open source OPENJFX community. Moreover, Oracle customers can be benefited from this community and continually support JavaFX commercially, in the Oracle JDK 8 at least up to 2022. This article covers the introduction of JavaFX and its future. Most of the technical professionals are concerned about their future and the future existence of JavaFX as well.

Introduction to JavaFX

At JavaOne2007 firstly, JavaFX was unveiled publicly. The time when JavaFX was launched then immediately people started comparing it with Microsoft Silverlight and Adobe Flex due to its cross-platform hardware support, scripting, and the accelerated UI abilities. Earlier the technology was completely open source means it was available free for download but within a year it became part of the Oracle JDK. After that, it was continuously evolved in OpenJDK community, where passionate followers started following this and considered it as one of the best tools for cross-platform desktop application toolkit.

Among developers, JavaFX got some of the ISV producers, developers to develop and produce unique desktop applications and started providing a unique solution for a specific market that was a blend of visuals, multimedia, web, and other latest technologies. When Java SE9 was launched then it became easier to decouple JavaFX from the JDK. Java developers got more freedom to use JavaFX for the development with full flexibility.

What is exactly JavaFX?

Oracle provided the JavaFX platform to facilitate rich internet applications and desktop applications that can be accessed from a variety of devices. Originally the platform was developed by the Sun Microsystem and it consists of JavaFX Mobile and the JavaFX Script.
This script language was evolved to make Java Swing programming easier that can help you in providing an easier way to design and create the rich user interface. Through declarative language, JavaFX enables the developers to create an interactive GUI in an easy manner. Even though the Java Swing components developers can use vector graphics, animations and various display effects along with audio and video tracks.

Pros and Cons of JavaFX Platform

JavaFX is used to develop the desktop application. Even sometimes developers prefer JavaFX then Java Swing. If you also want to select any one of them then here is a comparison of Java Swing and JavaFX platform.

JavaFX Pros

Following benefits are offered by JavaFX to the developers:

• Good Enough Multimedia Support
• Easier to build custom and existing controls
• Good animation supports though not as good as flash animation but is good
• Better platform to build multimedia applications or the applications that can provide a custom look

Cons of JavaFX Platform

Following disadvantages are faced by JavaFX platform users:

• Lack of some controls but still it keeps on improving
• There exist Swing integration, but the new engine may not rely on Swing anymore
• Visual designers may not get the work

Future of JavaFX

Oracle has announced that some of the technologies that are related to Java-Client will be eliminated from the next release of JDK. As with the new release Java applets, JavaFX and Web Start will no longer be available in JDK11 and later versions.

Oracle has also announced that Java 8 extension may remain available for the public through at least January 2019 and 2020 for non-corporate use. Applet and Web Start may be eliminated from the later versions of Java. Oracle has left the flourishing of JavaFX on the community members.

In future, JavaFX may be a compile-time dependency that can be included in the build script. In that case, you will not have to take care of the JDK version and the version that is installed by your end users. Your build script will only compile a native installer and an image of embedded JDK. This JDK image will contain all the details that you require to compile the application. We can say that in future things will not be that much straight and easier and you will have to do efforts to take advantage of the JavaFX platform.

Verdict

One can take the announcement that is done by Oracle about JavaFX in many ways. For wide community members, it can be a decision that may and may not benefit them. For those who were expecting increased investment by Oracle in JavaFX, this may not be the good news. On the other hand, the community is free to bring new advancements in JavaFX technology.

Now the individual developer can do coding, testing, documentation, and advocacy. Companies can plan their decision about using this technology in advance and take the decision accordingly. Something amazing can also happen due to this declaration and there you may need to wait to see the result.