It used to be that whenever you wanted to build a rich internet application (RIA) you’d have to go and build it using Adobe’s Flash. For years it has been like this and only recently, with the advent of AJAX, that developers were able to bring to users an interactive web application without resorting to Flash. Then Microsoft came out with a new product to compete with Flash in the area of RIAs which they called SilverLight. And not wanting to be left behind in the competition, Sun also released just a few days ago a set of products into the RIA scene which they call JavaFX.
The appeal to users that Microsoft and Sun’s products brings to the table is the ability to easily create these applications and also its accessibility. With SilverLight, you can use a variety of programming models that suits your needs, either through Javascript, C# or other .NET languages, to create RIAs. The best thing about it is that it has cross-browser and cross-platform compatibility which really is the problem with past .NET platforms since it tends to limit the users who can access these applications. With JavaFX, it is somehow similar to SilverLight except for the fact that it tries to go beyond our browsers. It would also support set-top boxes, mobile devices and etc. which is actually their edge right now compared to the other products.
My question now is: With the majority of people using Adobe Flash today, will people (users and developers) actually switch into these new technologies? I don’t see why not. I most definitely would.
If you want to get started using SilverLight and JavaFX, go on over to these sites:
- SilverLight - demo (warning: video link)
- JavaFX - demo
May 11, 2007 at 1:53 am
Also, with the release of Expression Blend (its the flash UI development for your silverligth apps) many .Net programmers like me will surely want to get their hands dirty with this product… And not to mention Orcas, well I guess its a story to be told in a different time…
May 11, 2007 at 9:52 am
That’s actually one of the good points of SilverLight over JavaFX since Sun didn’t include a UI development tool for graphic designers (as far as I know).
May 16, 2007 at 9:06 pm
I personally dont think that people would switch unless there was a high value proposition that MS can offer.
May 16, 2008 at 11:47 pm
Sun / Java is the Worlds worst co. when it comes to UI. I was in Java for 4 yrs in my initial Dev days, and after knowing .NET in it’s beta stage, several of my friends and myself moved to .NET & C#. The only reason was Sun’s lack of Tool support and it’s time to release anything new. It was 2001, when JSF was started in paper. But, cameout in 2006/2007 as a release version. So, i dont think JavaFX wont be released for next 3-4 yrs.
Why i said Java is not a technology for UI, it’s sluggish performance. I just clicked the above JavaFX demo, when i saw the code, i thougt still Sun / Java is in the same stage. for 1 single button in oval shape, if we’ve to write these many 100’s of lines, which customer is going to pay for it. No one.
Also, when i selected 12.5% in the dropdownlist, the entire window started flickering 100 times/sec. I thought i messed up my system. Thank god, i managed to go to TaskBar and killed the so called JavaFX Pad.
Bottomline, let Java & Sun should know their limits and keep their concentration in midtier and let other Co’s like BEA/IBM/Oracle have the App Server developed for them.
Let God save Java.
Jinishans