Java Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 14
JavaFX Fundamentals
The JavaFX 8.0 API is Java's next generation GUI toolkit for developers to build rich
cross-platform applications. JavaFX 8.0 is an update from JavaFX 2.2 that's based on a
scene graph paradigm (retained mode) as opposed to the traditional immediate mode
style rendering. JavaFX's scene graph is a tree-like data structure that maintains vector-
based graphic nodes. The goal of JavaFX is to be used across many types of devices
such as mobile devices, smartphones, TVs, tablet computers, and desktops.
Before the creation of JavaFX, the development of rich Internet applications in-
volved the gathering of many separate libraries and APIs to achieve highly functional
applications. These separate libraries include Media, UI controls, Web, 3D, and 2D
APIs. Because integrating these APIs can be rather difficult, the talented engineers at
Sun Microsystems (now Oracle) created a new set of JavaFX libraries that combine all
the same capabilities under one roof. JavaFX is the Swiss Army Knife of GUIs. JavaFX
8 is a pure Java (language) API that allows developers to leverage existing Java libraries
and tools.
Depending on who you talk to, you will likely encounter different definitions of
“user experience” (or in the UI world, UX). But one fact still remains—users will al-
ways demand better content and increased usability from GUI applications. In light of
this fact, developers and designers often work together to craft applications to fulfill this
demand. JavaFX provides a toolkit that enables both the developer and designer (in
some cases, they are the same person) to create functional yet esthetically pleasing ap-
plications. Another thing to acknowledge is that if you are developing a game, media
player, or the usual enterprise application, JavaFX will not only assist in developing
richer UIs but you'll also find that the APIs are extremely well designed to greatly im-
prove developer productivity (I'm all about the user of the API's perspective).
There are entire topics written on JavaFX, and it would be impossible to cover all
the capabilities of the toolkit. Hopefully, these recipes can steer you in the right direction
by providing practical and real-world examples. So I encourage you to explore other re-
