Looks like QT is trying to answer the uncertainty that JavaFX has created for Swing programmers. Specifically, JavaFX is out there and has been named the air apparent to swing. However, JavaFX does not have a full component suite yet (table…cmon guys). So, with people knowing they will need to switch, but having some uncertainty about that switch, folks are a little lost. QT, looks like they are trying to position themselves as a good traditional gui toolkit that can be a refuge for swing programmers that don’t want to move to JavaFX.

Fun and Games

The recent comments from Steve Jobs regarding Adobe might well be the first sign of a “cold war” between the two companies. Apple would be already preparing and developing applications to compete directly with Adobe’s solutions, leading to open warfare. Cupertino would also be developing a software that could compete with Flash and Dreamweaver, entirely based on HTML 5.0. Beside Aperture X which should be released soon, Apple might also be working to develop a solution similar to Photoshop, a high-end Pro-oriented solution. We do not know further details about those applications being developed as it is either hidden from view or just starting.

link: Hardmac.com : Le “Macbidouille” in English – Apple and Adobe: The Roots and Reasons Behind Today’s Situation

The article goes into great depth about the souring relationship between the two companies and how that has taken place over time. I found myself wondering if that is what happened to Java on the Mac. At one point, Steve embraced Java. He proclaimed that it was going to be a center piece of Apple’s strategy. Given the lack of client side focus (at the…

So, in the process of exploring how I am going to make this work I was playing with using applescript from java. The older mechanisms that I found on most web sites uses the formerly deprecated, now deleted, Cocoa-Java Bridge. So, I started down the path of using Rococoa. However, I ran across something much simpler. Java 6, on the mac, supports a ScriptEngine plugin for apple script. Here is an example:

import javax.script.*;

public class AppleScriptTest{
	public static void main(String[] args){
		String script = "tell application \"Finder\" \n"
		     + " get the name of every item "
		     + " in the desktop \n" + "end tell";

		ScriptEngineManager mgr = new ScriptEngineManager();
		ScriptEngine engine = mgr.getEngineByName("AppleScript");
		try{
			Object obj = engine.eval(script);
			for(Object o : (java.util.ArrayList)obj){
				System.out.println(o);
			}
		}catch(ScriptException se){
			se.printStackTrace();
		}
	}

}

Here…

Many developers who code for the Java ME platform are eager to enhance their MIDlets with JavaFX technology to take advantage of its modern features and enrich the user experience of their applications. Moving your MIDlet into JavaFX software can enable you to create richer and more interactive user interfaces and can make it dramatically easier to bring your content to the desktop, browser or TV, in addition to running across mobile devices.

link: JavaFX Technical Article | Enhance Your MIDlet With JavaFX Technology | Java FX

If you’re interested in building multimedia applications on orkut, you probably would like to know how to do so quickly and easily. Did you know that you can use zembly to build rich internet applications (RIA) on orkut, using JavaFX technology – quickly and easily ?

link: zembly blog » Blog Archive » Build Rich Internet Applications on orkut using zembly and JavaFx

On the heels of Google’s announcement of a lightweight operating system for the proverbial cloud and SoundCloud’s ascent as the social music platform of choice come major improvements to Indaba’s cloud-based recording studio, which is like an online version of Pro Tools for musical collaboration. Music production, too, is headed towards the cloud, a catch-all term for applications and data living on servers rather than on your computer’s hard drive.

link: Indaba Supercharges Cloud-Based Recording Studio | Epicenter | Wired.com

In case your Java Plugin supports JNLP, the applet-gears.jnlp is used, otherwise it shall fallback to JNLPAppletLauncher.

link: jogl-demos: JOGL JNLP Applet Test

Perhaps you guys want to consider implementing an “Incrementally Irritable” Compiler where the first 10 or so errors nets you a polite “Pardon me, but I think you erred”, but by the, say, 50th error, you’ve degraded into a “bitch, plz!”

link: Sten’s Blog » Blog Archive » My JavaFX 1.2 Blogging Contest Submission, by Sten Anderson

I was looking for a JavaFX display shelf control (similar to the iTunes cover flow) that I could use for some WidgetFX GUI improvements. I couldn’t find anything that met my needs, so I rolled my own.

link: JFXtras Shelf Control « JFXStudio: sketch, hack, share

The Bad
Despite the good looks and the demo, I have to bust their chops. I tried the jnlp example and it was as slow as molasses. It ate up 100% of my cpu (dual quad core mac pro). Add to that, it didn’t even have scroll wheel support. By the looks of it, this is a good start, but it is by no means, production ready and still needs some work. I am looking forward to the JFXxtras guys getting this ready to go. It’ll be a really nice component to use in a variety of applications.

The Ugly
Well, there isn’t any ugly. it is a very attractive control.