Building OpenJFX with the JDK build system

[John Neffenger]

On 2/27/25 7:15 AM, Johan Vos wrote:
> The POC I have for this (linux-only at the moment) is at
> https://github.com/johanvos/jdk/tree/jfxpoc-blog

That's very clever, Johan. I never thought of using the JDK repository 
as-is to build JavaFX. I agree it's "one of the most excellent build 
systems for software development today," so what a great idea to start 
with that!

Your "proof of concept" repository builds successfully for me on Ubuntu 
22.04 LTS and goes rather smoothly through the JavaFX modules:

     Compiling up to 1 files for java.se
  -> Compiling up to 312 files for javafx.base
     Compiling up to 18 files for jdk.accessibility
     Compiling up to 3 files for jdk.editpad
     Compiling up to 904 files for jdk.hotspot.agent
     Compiling up to 64 files for jdk.jconsole
     Compiling up to 69 files for jdk.jpackage
     Compiling up to 8 files for jdk.unsupported.desktop
  -> Compiling up to 1695 files for javafx.graphics
  -> Compiling up to 296 files for javafx.controls

The only rough edges are the 'javac' notes about deprecated APIs and 
unchecked or unsafe operations in use by JavaFX. Also, as you note, the 
'gcc' warnings are a bit jarring when you're accustomed to the sparse 
output of the JDK build by itself.

After the build, the JavaFX JMOD files are found in the right place:

$ ls build/linux-x86_64-server-release/images/jdk/jmods/javafx*
build/linux-x86_64-server-release/images/jdk/jmods/javafx.base.jmod
build/linux-x86_64-server-release/images/jdk/jmods/javafx.controls.jmod
build/linux-x86_64-server-release/images/jdk/jmods/javafx.graphics.jmod

and the runtime image includes over 4,000 JavaFX classes:

$ jimage list build/linux-x86_64-server-release/images/jdk/lib/modules \
     | grep javafx | wc -l
4009

I tested it with a "Hello World" JavaFX application on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, 
and it worked fine except for a minor error:

$ opt/jdk/bin/java --enable-native-access=javafx.graphics \
     -jar tmp/dist/hello-javafx-1.0.0.jar
Mar 12, 2025 7:04:06 PM com.sun.javafx.css.StyleManager loadStylesheet
WARNING: Resource "com/sun/javafx/scene/control/skin/modena/modena.css"
not found.
Hello World!

So when can we switch?! :-)

Thanks,
John