I love how the marketing folks put a spin on things every time there’s an announcement from one of the Players. This time it’s Java’s turn for the RIA space with the introduction of JavaFX. Immediately people are talking about ‘Ajax killer’. It’s no more an Ajax killer than Flash was (actually, Ajax and Flash are quite compatible), or Silverlight.
This one cracked me up:
The advantage Java-connected scripting language has over others, such as Ruby, PHP or Python, is that Java programmers can easily transfer their skills and knowledge. Moving from Java to another language like JavaScript, which is often used for Ajax applications, “is like moving to another foreign land,” Monson-Haefel said.
I used to program in Java before Sun et al bloated it out of recognition. I had no problem working with JavaScript. I guess today’s crop of Java developers isn’t very versatile.
Sun has also said it will open source JavaFX. What does that mean? Microsoft and Adobe are also talking about ‘open sourcing’ select pieces of their infrastructures. Seems to me there’s as many variations of ‘open source’ in this market as there is ice cream flavors at Baskin’s & Robbins.
JavaFX does seem to have a head start into the mobile market, but it’s behind the other players, which are at least on the street. However, it also has a built-in audience, as there is a lot of Java developers. Of course, same could be said about Silverlight and Adobe’s Flex.
I’ve not found, though, that companies that use Java for their applications are the most forward looking and ‘on the edge’ development environments. In my opinion (note I said, ‘in my opinion’), Java is the most conservative web development environment. Web Sphere, nuff said.
One thing for sure: RIA is the hot market this year. Adjust your resumes accordingly.