At JavaOne 2008 this week, Sun Microsystems delved deeper into JavaFX, a platform for creating visually oriented applications that can be leveraged in the increasing consumer application space.
Seen as the systems company’s latest push into the rich internet applications (RIA) world, JavaFX is based on the Java technology and aims to meet the needs of content creators and designers.
JavaFX is a family of products that includes a runtime and a tools suite intended to support web scripters, designers, and developers to quickly build and deliver RIAs across the desktop, mobile devices, television, and other consumer platforms.
Sun debuted the JavaFX concept at JavaOne last year amidst trumpets blazing, but it took the systems company another 12 months to come back with something more substantial.
At the 13th JavaOne conference in San Francisco, Sun offered a first glimpse at some of the newest creations powered by JavaFX.
The demos included Movie Cloud, a 3D spinning ball that plays several high definition movies at one go and Photo Flocker, a capability that allows users to search for specific pictures, create a montage and view them dynamically.
Speaking to international journalists later, Param Singh, senior director of Java described JavaFX as Sun’s answer to its six million Java developers request to help them deliver richer content.
According to Param, Sun’s vision for JavaFX is to be the next generation technology that supports the creation of rich applications, services and content that can be deployed on the device of your choice.
“The key element is that JavaFX is mobile and you can take it everywhere you go… we will deliver it on the desktop, on the browser and you can then take it to mobile devices and run it… we want to enrich the web 2.0 community with new, expressive content,” said Param.
Besides portability, Sun also promises to deliver a consistent experience which is essentially content that can be played on all the “screens of your life”--from the desktop to the handheld--and will look and behave in the same way across all these platforms.
Sun is confident its vision will soon become a reality because the mobile devices of today are more powerful and able to handle richer applications.
Param, who described the JavaFX as currently being in “execution mode” drew up a vague timeline for the software stating that the first version of JavaFX Desktop for the browser and desktop can be expected by “fall of 2008” and JavaFX Mobile and JavaFX TV in “spring 2009.”
Although only certain parts of JavaFX are open-source currently, Sun said it is working towards making the entire platform open in the long run to underscore its strong commitment to “free software.”
JavaFX is set to compete head on with Adobe Flash/Flex and Microsoft Silverlight, both technologies which are established in the RIA space.
So how does Sun plan to go to war?
According to Param, JavaFx’s competitive advantage lies in its tools ability to bridge the gap between user experience design and development logic, offering an unprecedented collaboration opportunity between designers and developers.
“If you look at our other competitors out there, they have strengths in many areas such as design. However, their problem is to really get it [the design] to work with developers,” noted Param.
“We come from a different strength… we have got to work from that strength and empower our audience and then extend beyond that.
“I don’t think that any kind of platform today covers the full spectrum, from graphic designers to rich content assemblers to scripters all the way out to developers.” |
