Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 4
An Introduction to JavaFX 8:
Exploring the Capabilities of the
Java 8 Multimedia Engine
Let's build on the knowledge of the Java programming language that you gained in the
previous chapter here in
Chapter 4
, by learning about the capabilities, components, and
classes that make up the
JavaFX 8
multimedia engine. This amazing JavaFX 8 API was
added to Java 8 using the
javafx
package that you saw in
Chapters 2
and
3
, which was
released with Java 8. The JavaFX 8 package is significant to game programming be-
cause it contains advanced forms of classes that you will want to harness for game pro-
gramming, including classes for organizing game components, using a
scene graph
;
classes for
user interface
layout and design; classes for 2D
digital illustration
(also
called vector graphics); and classes for
digital imaging
(also called raster graphics); 2D
animation
;
digital video
;
digital audio
;
3D
; a
web engine
(WebKit); and much more,
all of which I will be covering in this chapter, so that you know exactly what you have
available to you, now that these JavaFX 8 libraries have been added into the Java 8 pro-
gramming language.
The rationale for going into such detail is not only so that you know what JavaFX
8.0 can do for your Java 8 game development, but also so that you have an overview of
how the various components of this JavaFX multimedia engine are put together. You
will learn about the JavaFX
Quantum
Toolkit, the
Prism
rendering technology, the
We-
bKit
web engine, the
Glass
Windowing Toolkit, the audio and video
Media
engine, and
the Scene Graph API.
The reason you will need this high-level overview of how JavaFX works before you
actually start to use it in your games is because it is a fairly complex set of APIs (I like
