Project OpenJFX

Java counterattacks? The other day I posted that Silverlight and Flash might be going to kill Java... well Java is figting back:

JavaFX is a new family of Sun products based on Java technology and targeted at the high impact, rich content market.

JavaFX Script is a highly productive scripting language that enables content developers to create rich media and content for deployment on Java environments. JavaFX Script is a declarative, statically typed programming language. It has first-class functions, declarative syntax, list-comprehensions, and incremental dependency-based evaluation. It can make direct calls to Java APIs that are on the platform. Since JavaFX Script is statically typed, it has the same code structuring, reuse, and encapsulation features (such as packages, classes, inheritance, and separate compilation and deployment units) that make it possible to create and maintain very large programs using Java technology. See the FAQ for more information.

I am very impressed with the demos in the site, and the way less verbose way to describe interfaces (when compared with traditional Java Swing code, and I am thinking it could even be a threath for XAML & XML, some people on the net believe that XML is the poor man's parser, and that it is being overutilized to create stuff that should be implemented as an specific language... well, JavaFX is not XML... is this the start of a new trend?), I was also very exited to see how easy is to add animation to Java 2D application with this new API (everything that can be done with Flash will be possible... and maybe even more...). Now... the question are:

• Will Sun release a "UI Designers Pack" for Netbeans that will be pretty much something like Microsoft Expressions for Java?
• Could OpenJFX be adopted by projects like OpenLaszlo?
• Is using JavaScript like languages the new trend?
• Will JSON stuff become the new poor man's parser?

Swing: Dying between Silverlight & Flash?

So... Now Microsoft has Silverlight and tools like Expressions to create really good looking animations and User Interfaces... and a really small 1Mbyte plugin that works in Windows & Mac OS X...

Adobe has Flash... and Flash CS3 & Flex to create really good looking animations and User Interfaces.... and a really small around 1 Mbyte plugin... that works... well... everywhere (Windows, Mac OS X, and yes, Linux)

And Java... well... has Swing and SWT... neither of them has a a tool too easily create really good looking animations and User Interfaces... (Mattise is not bad, but it doesn't compare with Flash CS3 or Expressions), the JRE is huge, Swing and SWT have better integration with current platform UI than ever before... (but, creating really good looking UIs, like those possible with Flash & Silverlight with just the help of a designer... well.. it is just not possible)

So...the Java vs .NET war.... is now the Silverlight vs Flash war? or now we have 3 powers?

The Presentation Layer: Open Laszlo vs Flex

Hi!

So I have been evaluation several presentation layer frameworks, trying to choose one for may future applications at my new job... my boss is very interested in developing applications with a "cinematic" experience... so, the main contenders are:

• Open Laszlo 4
• Flex 2

So far, the main advantage of each one are:

Open Laszlo 4:

• OpenSource (& free both ways)
• Flash & JScript UI generation
• Cinematic user experience

Flex 2:

• Flash UI generation
• Free SDK (but AFAIK not OpenSource)
• Cinematic user experience
• UI Builder
• Interactive debugger
• Syntax Colored Editor for the Scripts
• Lots of Beginner to Advanced Tutorials
• Lots of Books
• Lots of examples with matching tutorials & books
• Cairngorm architectural framework
• E4X Support
• Based on ECMAScript 4

The main disadvantages of Laszlo are Flex strength (and viceversa):

Open Laszlo 4:

• No UI Builder
• No interactive debugger
• No syntax coloring for the scripts
• Lack of advanced tutorials online
• Lack of Books (There are only 2, one from the reviews I have read seems to be pretty much a copy of Laszlo reference documentation, and the other I think will be a really good one, but it is unfinished)
• Lack on architectural frameworks or guidance (nothing like Cairngorm is available)
• No E4X support
• Based on ECMAScript 3 (older version)

Flex 2:

1. Not OpenSource
2. DataServices are expensive (but maybe the Granite project will change that)
3. The UI Builder needs lots of RAM (1 Gbyte is recommended by Adobe)
4. The UI Builder is an Eclipse plugin (this is a personal disadvantage, because I prefer Netbeans)

I really wanted Laszlo to win this competition ( I just really like the product, the idea, and I believe competition is good for customers, so I feel that keeping Laszlo alive will be good for the future of both Laszlo & Flex consumers...) but... so far, it seems that Laszlo main advantage as an opensource project (community & books support) is just not as advanced as Flex's (no good finished Laszlo books, no list of best practices, architectural guidance or architectural framework) so, I think the winner, for me, will have to be, for now, Flex... (but I hope that next year Laszlo improves, and I hope I have the chance to use it in future projects)

My wish list for Open Laszlo 4.5:

• Lots of beginner to expert tutorials of full applications (with real world authentication & authorization & architecture best practices)
• Books, books, books!
• IDE agnostic UI Builder (something like what is available for TIBCO)
• Architectural Framework (something like Flex's Cairngorm but for Laszlo)
• J2EE Integration (something like Flex's Granite project)
• Interactive IDE integrated script debugger (even if only for Eclipse)

My wish list for Open Laszlo 5.0:

• E4X support
• ECMAScript 4 support
• Something like GWT of Echo2 but with Laszlo as the underlying infrastructure. (Java only coding)

Well, now I'll just wait and see...