JavaFX on iOS - viable or pipe dream?

[John C. Turnbull]

I see with much excitement that there have now been numerous demonstrations
of JavaFX running on iOS.  Let's face it, JavaFX cannot really be considered
a true success if it doesn't run and run well on arguably the most
significant platforms in use today namely tablets and mobile phones for
which iOS is the most critical.

 

Having small demo applications run on iOS is one thing but are we just
dreaming?  I mean this is a great first step but will Apple ever allow Java
or JavaFX to run on iOS?  They have stated quite publicly that they are
determined to prevent so-called "meta platforms" running on iOS (think
Flash, Silverlight) so why should JavaFX be any different?  I realise the
JRE will be statically linked but Java is (by Apple's definitions at least)
a "meta platform".  Historically they have tended to be rather fussy in this
area and they make the rules.

 

Another concern is could an app burdened with a heavy and intermediate layer
in the JRE perform like a "native" app on ARM and other relatively low
powered CPUs?

 

Clearly the JavaFX community wants it to run on iOS more than any other
unsupported platform and many see this is as an absolute priority for
Oracle.  Perhaps now that Steve Jobs has left the building things have
mellowed over at Apple but is it possible someone from the JavaFX
development could comment on how they intend to overcome these issues?

 

Thanks,

 

-jct