{"id":1084,"date":"2008-12-04T18:20:58","date_gmt":"2008-12-04T17:20:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itwriting.com\/blog\/1084-suns-javafx-is-launched-another-go-at-applets.html"},"modified":"2008-12-04T18:20:58","modified_gmt":"2008-12-04T17:20:58","slug":"suns-javafx-is-launched-another-go-at-applets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itwriting.com\/blog\/1084-suns-javafx-is-launched-another-go-at-applets.html","title":{"rendered":"Sun\u2019s JavaFX is launched: another go at applets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sun has launched JavaFX<\/a>. <\/p>\n

 
Sun\u2019s Eric Klein, VP of Java Marketing, explains JavaFX<\/em><\/p>\n

What is it?<\/strong> Sun says<\/a>: <\/p>\n

\n

JavaFX is a rich client platform for building cross-device applications and content. Designed to enable easy creation and deployment of rich internet applications (RIAs) with immersive media and content, the JavaFX platform ensures that RIAs look and behave consistently across diverse form factors and devices.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What is it really?<\/strong> A new script language called JavaFX; a compiler that turns JavaFX script into Java bytecode; a runtime that includes new media codecs; converters that turn SVG, PhotoShop or Illustrator graphics into JavaFX format. JavaFX also requires the JRE (Java Runtime Environment). Currently only Windows and Mac OS X are supported; Linux and Solaris support \u201cwill be provided in a future release\u201d; mobile is also on the way, promised for Spring 2009.<\/p>\n

A variety of video and audio codecs are supported, but unfortunately these vary by platform. For example, WMV plays only on Windows; H.264 runs on Mac but on Windows only \u201cas an update\u201d, whatever that means. However, there is a specific \u201ccross-platform\u201d codec, which is VP6 from On2<\/a>. Snag: you need On2\u2019s commercial software to convert to the required .FXM format.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s good about JavaFX?<\/strong> Sun claims broadest market reach<\/a>; but this is nonsense \u2013 I presume it is counting every device with a smidgen of Java installed. There are some advantages though. JavaFX can run Java code, and there\u2019s plenty of that out there. The Java VM is mature and fast. A neat feature is that you can run JavaFX applications outside the browser by dragging them onto the desktop. Even in the browser, Java FX are not confined to the browser window, but can create graphics that appear anywhere on the screen. Java SE 6 update 10 or higher is required for these features, which depend on an out of process Java applet plugin in this update.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s bad about JavaFX? <\/strong>There are several reasons why Sun will find this a hard sell:<\/p>\n