May 08, 2007
Sun Previews RIA Plans with JavaFX
John Dorsey
At JavaOne, Sun previewed JavaFX Script and JavaFX Mobile, two components of its new multimedia-rich, RIA platform
At the JavaOne conference in San Francisco, Sun previewed two components of JavaFX, its new multimedia-centric RIA platform:
JavaFX Script and JavaFX Mobile.
JavaFX Script, formerly codenamed F3 for "Form Follows Function" has been the work of Sun's Chris Oliver. JavaFX Script is a declarative and statically typed scripting language that uses the Java2D Swing libraries for GUI building and is geared toward on building interactive, multimedia-rich UIs, much like the Adobe Flex and Microsoft Silverlight platforms. Chris will be discussing F3 in technical sessions at JavaOne on Wednesday and Thursday.
The JavaFX Mobile client runtime is based on the Java SE platform rather than the more-limited Java ME mobile platform. Sun's press release states, "JavaFX Script applications will run on any JavaSE technology-based platform including all of the upcoming JavaFX software systems..." The JavaFX Mobile technology appears to be based on the SavaJe Mobile Platform, a Java-based OS for mobile phones that Sun acquired last month. A SavaJe Jasper phone was one of the phones used during the JavaFX keynote demonstration.
Sun announced that other products supporting the JavaFX platform with follow with a goal of allowing JavaFX-based apps to be deployed to desktop computers as well as other consumer devices. Sun also announced plans to open source JavaFX, presumably when it's 1.0, and has set up the Project OpenJFX to promote the language. More info at openjfx.dev.java.net.
