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JavaFX updated, with Eclipse plug-in to come


By Alex Handy
June 4, 2009 — 
SAN FRANCISCO — JavaFX received a lot of attention from developers here at JavaOne. The fledgling presentation-layer language was updated to version 1.2 by Sun, and an enhanced release of an Eclipse plug-in for the language was announced.

Version 1.2 of the JavaFX language brings with it a new library of interface components: arrows, slider-bars, buttons and all the other interface graphics developers need to quickly create an interface. And, according to Octavian Tanase, senior director of the Java platform group, there will be more to come.

Larry Ellison, Sun's new master via his position as CEO of Oracle, made sure to call out JavaFX during his appearance at the keynote. He hinted that the language might provide a front end for OpenOffice.org.

But Jeffrey Hammond, senior analyst for application development at Forrester, said that he is skeptical of Ellison's enthusiasm. Hammond said that he's seeing only limited interest in JavaFX from developers and organizations he speaks to, and compounding the problem is the fear present from developers who aren't consoled by Ellison's words of reassurance.

“I see a lot of hesitation now, regardless of what Larry said. Oracle has made a lot of investment around ADF Faces,” said Hammond, pointing out Oracle's own rich Web application interface components. “Are you going to have two [presentation layers]? I guess they could; they have two IDEs. It would take a lot of work from the product teams to replace ADF Faces with JavaFX."

Sun also demonstrated the JavaFX Authoring Tool. Aimed at graphic designers and less sophisticated developers, the tool was described by Jacob Lehrbaum, senior product line manager for JavaFX Mobile, as the hub where all the spokes of a JavaFX application come together.

That means code will still be written in Eclipse or NetBeans, art will still be created in Illustrator or Photoshop, and the JavaFX Authoring Tool will be used to assemble animations and arrange user interfaces.

“These are not just developers anymore. There's a broad set of individuals that make up a team; interaction designers, graphic designers, developers," said Lehrbaum. "We want to make sure everyone has the right tools for the job. With the JavaFX Production suite, visual designers can create things in Photoshop and bring them into JavaFX."

The already-released Java Production Suite sits at the lowest end of the JavaFX stack and is essentially an export plug-in for Photoshop.

“The JavaFX Authoring Tool is designed to be very user friendly and very intuitive,” said Lehrbaum. “When you first use the tool, there are limited things you can do. As you start to use the tool, it exposes more functionality to you based on what you're doing.”

Since the December release of JavaFX, Linux and OpenSolaris have been without a runtime for the language. Sun released that runtime and tools to go with it at JavaOne, though both are in beta form.

Also in beta form is the Eclipse plug-in for the language, which Sun asked Neil Bartlett, author of “OSGi in Practice,” to enhance. Bartlett wrote in his blog that he focused on the usability of the coding environment in this release.

As such, he added integration with Eclipse Outline view, various syntax helpers, and pop-up bubbles that display API information when a mouse is hovered over elements. Bartlett and the Sun team also added numerous templates and debugging capabilities.


Related Search Term(s): Eclipse, JavaFX, Sun


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Comments

06/15/2009 11:35:53 AM EST

Alex, Exadel has also released a JavaFX plug-in for Eclipse, http://exadel.com/web/portal/javafxstudio. We are working on enhancing the editor as well as other features in the next release. Max http://mkblog.exadel.com

United StatesMax Katz


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