Weiqi Gao's Observations - javafx tag

Software Engineering Tech Trend (SETT): Experiments With JavaFX 3D Scenes

Wed, 02 May 2012 03:28:20 GMT

The last article I wrote for OCI's online newsletter Java News Brief (JNB) was Six JDK Classes You Think You Know, which several readers have told me was fun. That was the last article in the JNB series. The following month, the series began its publication under the new name Software Engineering Tech Trend (SETT), with an expanded scope covering a broader array of software engineering topics. Here's a sample of the articles that was published in SETT in the last year and a half:

In this months SETT article, Experiments With JavaFX 3D Scenes, I show you one aspect of JavaFX, its 3D scenes support, through a set of experiments that go from simple animated squares moving along straight lines to an animated formation of a tetrahedron in 3D. I was hoping to show you an animation of a dodecahedron being formed from a stack of pentagons,but I ran out of time for the article and have to settle for a tetrahedron there.

I did, however, finish an animated dodecahedron after I submitted the article. And here is how it goes:

Enjoy!

An Updated JavaFX 2 Applet: Pythagorean Theorem

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 12:25:27 GMT

Oracle announced the EOL (end of life) for JavaFX 1.2 and 1.3 36 days ago:

javafx4you: Today, we are announcing that JavaFX 1.2 and JavaFX 1.3 will reach end of life (EOL) on December 20, 2012. More specifically, the Oracle server providing access to the JavaFX Runtime for these versions will no longer be available after that date.

So I spent some time in the last couple of days to update one of my JavaFX 1.1.1 applets published on this blog—an animation that depicts a proof of the Pythagorean Theorem. It appeared in Zhou Bi Mathematical Manual (周髀算经) which I wrote 1061 days ago. I wanted to update this applet because people have told me that it helped them or their kids to understand the Pythagorean Theorem better.

JavaFX 1.x code, which is in JavaFX Script, translates easily into JavaFX 2.0 code, which is simply Java. The two facilities of JavaFX 1.x that made the original applet work, bindings and animations, are major APIs in JavaFX 2.0. And the porting is almost mechanical. Naturally the Java code is more verbose than the equivalent JavaFX Script code. But that's the price we pay for converting JavaFX into the wider-reaching Java APIs.

While I was at it, I added a background image that was merely put side by side with the applet in the original post. Since JavaFX 2.0 applets only works on Windows, I have put the applet on a separate page here. The source code is here. The background image is here. The following is a video showing the applet at work. Notice the actual jpg file is bigger than the applet's Stage size. I used a viewport on an ImageView to pick out a portion of the image.

Your browser does not support HTML 5 video. Here's the link to the video file.

Enjoy the elegance of geometry and JavaFX.

Pro JavaFX 2 Platform Book Is Available: eBook Now, pBook In Two Weeks

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:56:46 GMT

JavaFXpert on twitter: Pro JavaFX 2 Platform book publishing 07.mar.2012, but available now as eBook. Source code available now as well: apress.com/9781430268727

The updated version of our (Jim Weaver, Stephen Chin, Dean Iverson, Johan Vos and me) JavaFX book by Apress, Pro JavaFX 2 Platform, is finished. The paper book will be available on March 7, 2012. You can get the eBook now through the "Buy Alpha Book" program. The source code of the book is also available at http://www.apress.com/9781430268727.

Here's the back cover description of the new book:

In Pro JavaFX 2: A Definitive Guide to Rich Clients with Java Technology, Jim Weaver, Weiqi Gao, Stephen Chin, Dean Iverson, and Johan Vos show you how you can use the JavaFX platform to create rich-client Java applications. You'll see how JavaFX provides a powerful Java-based UI platform capable of handling large-scale data-driven business applications.

Covering the JavaFX API, development tools, and best practices, this book provides code examples that explore the exciting new features provided with JavaFX 2. It contains engaging tutorials that cover virtually every facet of JavaFX development and reference materials on JavaFX that augment the JavaFX API documentation. Written in an engaging and friendly style, Pro JavaFX 2 is an essential guide to JavaFX 2.

What you’ll learn

How to get started with JavaFX 2, including downloading the SDK and available tools.
How to express user interfaces with a declarative-style enabled by the JavaFX builder classes.
How to use property binding to keep the UI easily in sync with the model.
How to use the rich set of JavaFX UI controls, charts, shapes, effects, transformations, and animations to create stunning, responsive, user interfaces.
How to use the powerful JavaFX layout classes to define the user interface in a cross-platform fashion.
How to leverage the observable collection classes to observe changes in, and bind to, Java collections.
How to use the JavaFX media classes to play audio and video.
How to interact with external application services to create an enterprise application with JavaFX.
How to use the JavaFX API with alternative languages such as Scala, Groovy, and Visage.
How to uncover the JavaFX APIs to whatever degree you choose. The tutorials, reference materials, and pointers to resources are exhaustive.

I hope the book will help you learn JavaFX quicker, have fun playing with the JavaFX 2 APIs, profitably produce compelling rich applications on the Java platform.