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Adobe Flex: Article

Flex Is Strong Because of Java

Some people are too quick to pronounce Java dead
By Yakov Fain
Article Rating:
June 15, 2008 06:00 AM EDT
Reads:
 5,610
I received an email stating that AOL finally abandoned the ugly Java applet  that was used in the ICQ2Go, the Web version of the hugely popular (about 30M users) instant messaging system. The person who sent me this email also wrote, “IMO this was the last popular Java applet. Now the king is dead.”

I don’t think so.

It became a trend to criticize Java for a slow-starting VM, overly complex syntax, an ugly looking UI, installation problems, lots of boilerplate code, and more. Some people just pronounced that Java was dead.

Not so fast. There is no money for the funeral.

While lots of new applications will be created by polyglot programmers, there is a huge base of Java-based production code that millions of businesses and individuals rely on.

ICQ2Go is an excellent example of a popular consumer-facing application. Let’s read a couple of fresh messages from its users’ forum:

“Where has the bloody Java based ICQ2Go gone? That's the only one I can use in my work! Heeeeelp !!!”
“Bring back Java ICQ2GO! This buggy Flash ICQ with a stupid design and without proper encoding support is a total rubbish!”

Of course, AOL will fix the bugs at some point, but the experience of the ICQ2Go users will be repeated across all the applications that move from Java to a Flash-based run-time. Don’t be in a hurry while migrating from Java to Flex/Flash.  Take your time. Plan carefully and test thoroughly.

Now let’s talk about the success of Adobe Flex. Who do you think would know about Flex if there weren't millions of rock-solid enterprise Java applications? Just a small group of enthusiasts creating cool little gadgets for fun.

“Have you seen that cool little video player number 237?”
“Have you seen that new photo album written in Flex? No, the one that was published this week?”
“I’ve seen it, but mine, which is written in pure ActionScript without using the Flex framework, is five times smaller”.

It’s because of enterprise server-side Java that very demanding Wall Street, telecommunications, and manufacturing applications started to use Flex. It’s because of its fast communication protocols that Flex is considered for lots of commercial Java-based business applications. No offense PHP, Ruby, .NET, Python, SOAP, and ColdFusion folks.

Flex has entered the enterprise world, and if you are considering using it for your next business application, attend this one-day technical event called Enterprise Flex Symposium and meet other practitioners who’ve done it already.

Ironically, it’s Sun Microsystems who introduced rich Internet applications back in 1995. But now, after spending more than a decade in an RIA coma, they are taking baby steps into the world of RIA with JavaFX. Even though Sun's moving slow, the need for an RIA offering has already had a positive effect on Java - the new JVM to play JavaFX becomes a lot smaller (Java Kernel) and it will be browser independent (kill the browser, but the JVM will keep running).

Today, there is only one API for creating a production-grade front end for RIA talking to Java. It’s called Adobe Flex. In 2010, JavaFX may become another alternative. But meanwhile, please stop bashing Java. Don't forget that many of these new popular programming languages exist because there is a J2EE application they need to connect to. Don't forget that Java puts bread on the table for many people (including mine) around the world. Do not spit in the well you drink from.

Published June 15, 2008 – Reads 5,610
Copyright © 2008 SYS-CON Media, Inc. — All Rights Reserved.
Syndicated stories and blog feeds, all rights reserved by the author.

More Stories By Yakov Fain

Yakov Fain is a Managing Director of Farata Systems, consulting, training and product company. He has authored several Java books, dozens of technical articles. SYS-CON Books released his latest co-authored book , Rich Internet Applications with Adobe Flex and Java: Secrets of the Masters in Spring 2007. Sun Microsystems has nominated and awarded Yakov with the title Java Champion. He leads the Princeton Java Users Group. He is an Adobe Certified Flex Instructor. Currently Yakov works on the book for O'Reilly "Enterprise Application Development with Flex". He twits at twitter.com/yfain.

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Most Recent Comments
NN 06/24/08 05:37:23 PM EDT

DRH:
you are jumping up and down on silverlight without any light. let see Microsoft work so hard to kill Java and all know the story. Today we have so many apps running on Java (backend more and front ends sucks where flex shines). Now we have great tools for complete RIA (almost free) Flex + Java. Since Flex is free + production ready + mature + Flex 4 coming in 2009 (1st Q or 2nd) where Silverlight first release at end of 2008 + not open source + MS driven etc...

Appcelerator is also another good alternate to Flex if you don't want thick RIA apps but page driven RIA.

GWT is also good option for end to end RIA solution in Java but Widgets are not as good looking as Flex.

Now next move from MS will be to kill Flash base Flex and try to show their not so mature silverlight as great technology from day one. Do it but don't talk trash about others..anyways
Yakov 06/24/08 12:38:11 AM EDT

This is not an article about RIA, this is about Flex. The most important word in the sentence"Today, there is only one API for creating a production-grade front end for RIA talking to Java." is "today".
Silverlight 1.0 is not competitive, and 2.0 is in Beta. The runtime engine is installed in a very modest number of computers. Let's see what happens in 2009.
DRH 06/23/08 01:35:12 PM EDT

BTW, using Silverlight to connect to Java back-ends is as simple as using Flex. And yes, it runs in virtually any browser on Windows, Mac OSX and Linux.

(At the moment, the biggest weakness of Silverlight is a lack of designer tools on Mac OSX, which tends to be the os of choice for te designer crowd.)
DRH 06/23/08 01:29:31 PM EDT

In principle, I agree, but some of your arguments are a bit rough around the edges. First of all, you failed to mention Silverlight. Any discussion of the future of RIA is imcomplete without acknowledging Microsoft's entry into the RIA arena with the planned release of Silverlight 2.0 this fall. The available beta 2 is a strong release offering much of the same functionality of Flex 3.0 and is supported by high-quality developer/designer tools. They may fall short of Adobe's tools in a few areas, but in general, they are incredibly good for such a young platform.

You can say what you want about Microsoft's business practices and blast them for their sometimes hostile approach to open standards, but you cannot deny that when Microsoft dedicates its huge resources and deep pockets to entering a market space, they are not to be ignored. They aren't always successful, but their success tends to be depend more on the soundness of their own strategy and implementation and less on their competition's offerings.
Aziz Kadhi 06/19/08 06:39:53 PM EDT

Yakov, I am a Swing developer who is very impressed by Flex 3, it feels like "Swing on vacation"; it's easier, more attractive and has great potential.

Thanks for the words of wisdom, I absolutely agree with you; Java is the engine while Flex is the perfect dashboard.
NN 06/16/08 03:59:53 PM EDT

Yeah so true. I am 100% java guy for backend but SUN just sucks when it comes to frontend. It is easy to say that SUN miss 10 years to introduce something similar Flex (JavaFX). I am not sure what they were thinking when everybody saying Swing sucks but SUN has reputation of charitable trust when it comes to make money on technology they develop.