JavaFX Script bringing RIAs to Java

Sun is set to demonstrate JavaFX Script, a scripting variant of Java geared to the rich Internet client space, in a preview version in May with the official 1.0 release due shortly thereafter, a Sun official said Thursday.

The technology is to be shown at the JavaOne conference in early-May in San Francisco, said Brian Goetz, compiler technology lead for JavaFX Script at Sun. JavaFX Script was announced at JavaOne in May 2007 as part of the larger JavaFX platform for presenting graphical experiences on various types of systems.

With JavaFX Script, Sun is looking to overcome issues with Java on the Internet client. Developing these applications for the client with the Java that has been around since 1995 "hasn't worked," Goetz said at TheServerSide Java Symposium in Las Vegas.

"Applets didn't get the support from the browser that they needed in order for them to work," Goetz said. "The pain of developing applications in Swing is more than most developers are willing to endure and so the approach has not caught on and that's largely because Java has been so successful on the server side and we've paid more attention to that."

Now, with JavaFX Script, Sun is renewing its emphasis on the client. During a presentation at the Java Symposium Thursday, developer James Weaver of LAT described the scripting language as "very elegant."

With JavaFX Script, an interface is declared using declarative scripting instead of Swing, Goetz said.

Rich client Java is back with JavaFX Script, he said.

"This kind of thing is showing you that it's back with a vengeance," Weaver said. "The tools are coming to make it even easier to write."

A NetBeans plugin for JavaFX Script already is offered, he said. Weaver also said he expects a tool similar to Adobe Photoshop that will leverage JavaFX Script.