JavaFX Integration

[Bruce K Haddon]

Java Friends, 
 
Once upon a time, JavaFX was included in the JDK, from Java 8 up to Java 10. JavaFX 
(in Java 11) then became a separate library, download, and install. As I understood it 
at the time, there were three basic reasons for this: 
 
1.                  JavaFX contributed greatly to bloat in the size of the JDK 
2.                  The separation allowed the JDK and the JavaFX SDK to evolve separately 
and at different paces and was to encourage more community involvement 
in the development of both the JDK and JavaFX.  
3.                  The development and maintenance moved from Oracle to Gluon, in 2018, 
relieving Oracle of responsibility for JavaFX (The original JavaFX Script (F3 
started in 2005) language was revealed at the 2007 JavaOne convention, 
supported by Sun Microsystems at that time).
 
Has not the time come to re-integrate JavaFX with the JDK? The above considerations 
are very much less applicable now: 
 
1.                  The “bloat” question has been long addressed by the modularization of the  
JDK. It is no longer necessary to ship the entire JDK with an application, just
the relevant modules. If JavaFX is not a requirement, then for distributed 
applications, the JavaFX modules (JavaFX is similarly modularized as the
JDK) need not be included (as well as many other modules of the JDK for 
the average application). 
2.                  The JDK and the JavaFX releases have kept in lockstep for some time 
now. The numbering is the same, the release dates are mostly with days 
if not hours the same. In particular, the releases of even security 
updates (third-digit of the release numbering) are coordinated. 
3.                  Both JavaSE and JavaFX developments are available in open source 
(OpenJDK and  OpenJFX), although both Oracle and Gluon offer 
supported versions, with additional tools,  that are subject to licensing. 
Integrating the releases still permits community involvement and  
innovation is either case. 
 
It appears that there is close co-operation between the open development of the JDK 
and of the JavaFX SDK, and the releases of both libraries could quite usefully be  
under one administration. 
 
Further, it would be of great convenience to developers not to have to make two 
installations and then configure their IDEs to access both libraries (not really easy in 
almost all IDEs, requiring understanding of many otherwise ignorable options of each 
IDE). In particular (my prime interest) is that it would simplify life for early students of 
Java and also provide the realization that the JDK and the JavaFX features are on an
equal footing in terms of use, access, and support, rather than JavaFX being an 
optional and difficult added learning issue. 
 
The relationship between OpenJDK and Oracle shows that commercial interest and 
open-source interest can co-exist, as does the relationship between Gluon and 
OpenJFX. There appears to be no reason that if the JavaFX modules were included 
in the one (modularized) download with the JDK modules that that either Oracle’s or 
Gluon’s commercial interests would be affected. 
 
It is both my belief and my recommendation that the time has come for the re-
integration of JavaFX (as the preferred GUI feature) with the rest of the JDK. 
 
With the hope that your development proceeds smoothly,
 
Bruce K. Haddon 
 

  _____  

Dr. Bruce K. Haddon

1506 Chambers Drive
+1 303/499 6240

Boulder, CO 80305-7002
 <mailto:Bruce.Haddon at colorado.edu> Haddon,BruceK at gmail.com


"Science is facts; just as houses are made of stones, so is science made of facts; but a pile of stones is not a house and a collection of facts is not necessarily science."—Henri Poincare 
 
 
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