Sun Prepares To Unleash JavaFX

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Sun Prepares To Unleash JavaFX

by Avatar X	Stumble this!	October 25th 2008

With the release of Silverlight 2 and Flash 10 respectively. it is fitting for a lot of people to wonder about Java again. more specifically JavaFX. the Java initiative to compete for the RIA web with Adobe and Microsoft. JavaFX is a Script language for Java. Java while it is still very prominent in the business and Enterprise side it is now a shadow of what it was compared to the late nineties when it dominated the consumer desktop for a lot web apps. Java Applets were the way to do big web apps back then. this of course changed with the insurgence of AJAX and Flash taking the center stage.

This is of course now changing again. Ajax and Flash are no longer enough for Fully Featured Web Apps. even with the insistence of Javascript innovation (Firefox, Chrome) in browser and Ajax Refining (IE8) this is not going to be enough to push the web and blurring of the web with the desktop. Adobe responded with Flex (MXML) that is a script language applied with Flash and Silverlight that brings XAML and .NET to table. Java is pushing JavaFX Script in a implementation similar to Adobe Flash + Flex .

In order to unleash JavaFX. Sun is now also giving Java a restructuring and tweaking so it can be more agile. install faster, occupy less space and give out better performance. You only need to Download Sun Java SE 6 Update 10 to see how Java has changed. i downloaded it and i must say i had the same impression with it as i had with Flash 10 and Silverlight 2. it is a update that Refines and Extend what you already know and indeed bring more performance gains. Something that Java needed more than anyone else given it is the biggest download compared to Adobe and Microsoft plugins. JavaFX is a powerful contender. it carries more power than Flex and Silverlight but it also got a lot of disadvantages in terms of performance and maturity compared to Flex and Silverlight that are now quite advanced in the run with each other. JavaFX was supposed (while not officially) to launch in alpha on the fall of 2007. this never happened and it launched in alpha 6 months or so after that. If JavaFX beta fails to launch in the fall 2008. it will be too late for them in the Consumer Desktop. they already face a tough competition if they manage to launch and even if they deliver something amazing it is unlikely they will be more than a 3rd place in the run against Adobe and Microsoft. unless Google haves a change of heart and decides to adopt JavaFX. but such a thing seems unlikely given their Google Ajax + Google Gears strategy.

Even then. this new java update is a step in the right direction for sun and it is good to have it. even if took years for it to finally arrive.

Java SE Update 10 Info

Java SE Update 10 Download (in case you don`t have it already)

via TC