Paul Krill
Editor at Large

JavaFX will be removed from the Java JDK

news
Mar 7, 20182 mins

Oracle’s rich media web technology will be broken out of standard Java as of JDK 11, and will proceed at its own pace

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JavaFX, Oracle’s 10-year-old rich client development technology for Java, will be decoupled from the Java Development Kit (JDK) and broken out into its own separate module.

Making JavaFX its own module will make it easier to adopt and clear the way for new contributors, Oracle said. The company added that with the faster release schedule being implemented for standard Java and the JDK, JavaFX needs to be on its own pace driven by contributions from Oracle and others in the OpenJFX community.

JavaFX will be removed from the Java JDK as of JDK 11, which is due in September 2018. It is bundled in the current JDK 9 and will remain in JDK 10, due this spring. Commercial support for JavaFX in JDK 8 will continue through at least 2022. Featuring a set of packages for graphics and media, JavaFX has been part of the JDK download since 2012.

JavaFX was introduced in May 2007 by Java founder Sun Microsystems in an attempt to bring Java to the forefront of rich client development for desktops and mobile devices, competing with Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight. Oracle took control when it acquired Sun in 2010. The technology, which was open-sourced in 2011, has maintained a following but never really took the industry by storm. Like Silverlight and Flash Player, JavaFX receded to the background as developers looked to more standards-based technologies, particularly HTML5, to deliver rich internet applications.

Paul Krill

Paul Krill is editor at large at InfoWorld. Paul has been covering computer technology as a news and feature reporter for more than 35 years, including 30 years at InfoWorld. He has specialized in coverage of software development tools and technologies since the 1990s, and he continues to lead InfoWorld’s news coverage of software development platforms including Java and .NET and programming languages including JavaScript, TypeScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, Rust, and Go. Long trusted as a reporter who prioritizes accuracy, integrity, and the best interests of readers, Paul is sought out by technology companies and industry organizations who want to reach InfoWorld’s audience of software developers and other information technology professionals. Paul has won a “Best Technology News Coverage” award from IDG.

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