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Sun Releases JavaFX
ink writes "Sun released JavaFX 1.0 today, in a bid to take on Adobe's Flash and Microsoft's Silverlight technologies. It is Sun's first Java release to include standardized, cross-platform audio and video playback code (in the form of On2 licensed codecs). The lack of a Linux or Solaris release is a notable absence. The development kit currently consists of the base run-time, a NetBeans/Eclipse plug-in and a set of artifact exporters for Adobe CS 3&4." An anonymous reader adds a link to several tutorials accompanying the new release.
Well, I will throw out there a heads up to folks about OpenLaszlo which is the "run-anywhere, no-lock-in rich Internet platform. Period."
Unfortunately it still has a massive adoption curve ahead of it so maybe there's no reason to list it as a contender. While there are neat demos, a few companies have employed it: Wal-Mart, Pandora even MSN's music service.
*sigh* I wonder if this means Sun is going to pull out of Orbit and come up with some J2ME version of JavaFX?
Like always, I welcome the competition, diversity and options this brings while I cringe at the thought of yet another schism in the open source community.
My work here is dung.
No shockwave for Linux, Flash 64 gets released JUST for Linux, Sun open-sources Java, but now no JavaFX for Linux...
Can't we all just get along? My head is spinning at all the end-user requests for their intarwebs to work correctly. I guess it's just too much to ask for a real, open standard that just works (like...umm...html?)
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
On2 is the company that provides the video/audio codecs for video in the Flash plugin. (i.e. The technology used by sites like Youtube.) The inclusion of these codecs in JavaFX means that JavaFX will be able to play movies intended for a Flash player.
In other words, JavaFX is a scripting language for graphics. Similar in principle to Flash. The download gives developers the necessary libraries and viewers to develop JavaFX code. (Including plugins for your favorite IDE.) Not sure what the Adobe CS stuff is about.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
It is. This is really a set of libraries on top of the existing Java runtime that support the JavaFX scripting framework.
I'm sure they will once the technology has been shaken out a bit. Sun tends to be cautious about making changes to the core APIs.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
What I'd really like to see is JavaFX running on Android. I saw a presentation from Java One where it showed a JavaFX app running on Android. Has anyone been able to duplicate this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYy4j9x2Mi4
I've played around with JavaFX and it seems pretty nice. I've been able to write small widgets with it. Whether it can take on Silverlight and Flash still remains to be seem. What's awesome is that JavaFX has the support of Java's rich API and 3rd-party libraries (you can easily import them into a JavaFX program).
Also if JavaFX apps can run properly on Android or the iPhone, I think that would also help it be more successful.
Vivin Suresh Paliath
http://vivin.net
I like
... another RIA platform. Only this one doesn't have a userbase yet and I don't think it'll have one to speak of in the near future; it is Windows and Mac OS only (though Sun promises that Linux and Solaris support is underway http://blogs.sun.com/javafx/entry/a_word_on_linux_and). Microsoft has been pushing Silverlight hard and still has only about 30% market penetration in the US (they claim 50% mp in 'some countries' - I'm very curious which countries are these: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2008/oct08/10-13Silverlight2PR.mspx). With Flash+Flex having a comfortable user base of some 90+%, let's not even begin to compare Microsoft's vs Sun's power to push stuff to the desktops of the masses, it's not even funny.
From the link:
"We are going to support Linux and Solaris. We love both operating systems....we are actively working on it right now. We have it in our continuous build system."
and
"So why didn't we ship for Linux and Solaris in 1.0 along with Mac & Windows?
Simple. It's not ready yet. Certain features are there but other features are broken or not performing well enough. In particular video and graphics hardware acceleration have historically been tricky to implement properly on Linux and Solaris, as users of native apps for those operating systems know all too well. But we are working on it and will ship it."
Even though it is still a shame,
you CAN view JavaFX used on webpages. It seams to work just like java-applets, only nicer to look at. (Sadly it also has the same slow loading as applets)
Example: http://javafx.com/samples/StopWatch/index.html
what is this linux support all you frothing nerds are screaming about? I just ran the "web start" examples in linux just fine, in fact FX runs on the standard JRE. Ok, there's no sdk for linux yet, FINE, just cut them some slack, for christ sake.
So if we have an absence of a lack, does that mean there is a Linux and/or Solaris release? :-P
And yes, I don't think I'm not being overly pedantic in noting the presence of an absence of a lack of internal bouyancy in the summary, since that's a term whose inapplicability wouldn't be not out of place in this sentence.
A marriage is always made up of two people who are prepared to swear that only the other one snores.
Flash and Silverlight? Yeah, right. Sun knows that Yet Another Web Development Framework isn't going to take over the desktop. This is a blatant attempt to stop Android taking over the mobile phone space. Android added native media playback classes and a bunch of other stuff to the J2ME mix, the HTC G1 was a surprise hit, and a whole bunch of cell phone manufacturers have now announced Android phones - not J2ME phones. Sun is seeing its lock on the mobile phone application market disappearing overnight, and Google side-stepped whatever patent claims it might have exerted by running "Dalvik" byte-code instead of Java byte-code.
So, it's closed source, and phone manufacturers have to pay a royalty to Sun for every handset shipped? In the meantime, Android is getting the press, HTC has shipped half a million G1 handsets in the past couple of months, Android is open source and free to implement, and there are numerous Android phones from multiple manufacturers on the horizon. Why would any of these manufacturers choose JavaFX instead?
I was able to get the SDK to run on Linux. Full details here. Please don't kill my box :)
Vivin Suresh Paliath
http://vivin.net
I like
They've done it! They have *finally* done it. Beyond all hype, potential vaporware and marketing bullcrap they have - for once - actually pulled through with RIAs. People this is the first time in history that Sun has actually pulled through with implementing a piece of Java in a form that Java was initially meant for: A cross plattform rich & powerfull client enviroment. Finally Java and its VM have stepped up and entered the ring with Flash!
Only intially releasing for OS X and Windows is a large downside, as it will get negative votes from opinion leaders in the field, but the simple fact that they pulled through and didn't stop at 20% with some half-assed crappy Java Media Framework or some other piece of sh*t they've released ever since Flash took the helm at rich clients 10 years ago is a very big supprising plus!!! And the release-website (why the f*ck isn't this, the most important prime sorce even linked in the GP metaarticle???) doesn't even look like total crap.
If they actually manage to pull through with a broad parallel release policy for this in the near future, manage to reduce JFX deployment to zero-fuss Flash-style and release the java-based FOSS tools and IDEs for JFX as announced a year ago, we will - for the first time in the history of the web - see a true competitor to Flash rise. This is good news in so many ways I can't even describe. If Sun plays its cards right and continues applying common sense and not screwing around this time and Adobe isn't on its toes, we will have a fully free open source rich client platform in just a few years and Flash will be history. Yay! Go, Sun, go!
I can't tell you how much I and many other professional Flash developers have waited for this moment for the last 8 years.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
...and has been for at least 20-30 minutes. I guess they didn't expect anyone to actually check out the site.
Laszlo is a Generator for a few things - which also include Flash, nonetheless. Much like the old Macromedia Flash Generator, the Ming Libraries or the Macromedia Laszlo Rippoff 'Flex'.
JavaFX on the other hand is an all-out leveraging of the Java VM for RIAs, something Laszlo can't offer. It's its own VM (naturally) plus a toolkit for building content and applications. While there are overlaps between the two, JavaFX is clearly aimed at Flash - the biggest advancement being a much more streamlines deployment of the Java VM (I just installed it with a sinlge click of a mouse, supported by some nifty Ajax widget that streamlined the process even more).
And, contrary to Silverlight, Java actually has a chance to dethrone Flash, as it is the most mature cross plattform available, despite Flash being the most widespread plattform in general. I'm really interested in how this will play out. ... And am downloading the free JavaFX IDE as I'm typing this. If it doesn't get in my way building RIAs, I will probably never purchase a Flash IDE licence again.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
The key bits are the scenegraph code ("scenario", available, but currently only as GPL) and the media playback (Java Media Components?) JMC replacing the hideous JMF. The JMC are based on GSTreamer on Linux (and solaris? not sure) so there is the possibility of playing anything ffmpeg does. God knows how the licensing is going to work out, especially since the H264 library is GPL.
button to find out."
Combine that with the 2nd-tier graphic design and interactivity going on all over the place, and it feels sort of like something that a) isn't going to win over the designer crowd and b) WHY on earth would Linux fans look at this as anything other than a snub? Sigh. (Anyway, I've downloaded all three packages, and I'll give it a go...)
I tried the demo over at javafx.com and I got two security warnings (they use self-signed certificates) and one popup with a EULA. And the demo have some serious usability and display issues.
I love Java and it pays my bills but Sun really have a long way to go to reach the acceptance level of Flash.
Nobox: Only simple products.
Not supporting linux and solaris, which have less than 5% of the desktop market, is not notable and is, in fact, good business sense.
There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
I have sort of a 'meh' reaction to it. It's not that the technology isn't cool, but it's a solution looking for a problem. Much like Silverlight, but without the antitrust practices to force it into use. In particular, its intended use as a platform on top of applets bothers me. Applets died out for a lot of good reasons. There's no good argument to be made for their revival. Especially with Flash and/or DHTML providing nearly all the advantages of Applets. Just let sleeping dogs lie and focus on using the technology elsewhere.
There is a possibility that JavaFX could be useful on cell phones. However, I don't see it happening. Sun is good at creating abstract technologies that provide options to the market. They're not so good at creating firm solutions that can hold their own in a competitive environment. The competition may be technologically inferior, but at least their end to end solution is practical.
Which is what I'm seeing with cell phones. Android may be only pseudo-Java based, but it provides the necessary phone technology top to bottom. The amount of customization necessary is pretty minimal. Meanwhile, Sun is pushing this JavaFX technology which is only a small piece of the puzzle. (Arguably the least important piece!) Handset manufacturers would have to adapt their phone software to meet the technology rather than having a pre-rolled solution available. Thus there's not much incentive to ship JavaFX.
In effect, JavaFX is DOA. You can throw it on the pile with PalmOS Cobalt, Shockwave, VRML, and other interesting technologies that failed to properly position themselves in the marketplace.
FWIW, I'm flattered you consider my opinion important enough to ask. :-)
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
1. It needs to be an order of magnitude faster to load. I don't have to wait 20 seconds for Flash movies to start playing.
2. It needs to not require a new runtime, with two nuisance security/license agreement dialogs.
3. It needs to not crash Firefox.
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak