JavaFX - Overview

Rich Internet Applications are those web applications which provide similar features and experience as that of desktop applications. They offer a better visual experience when compared to the normal web applications to the users. These applications are delivered as browser plug-ins or as a virtual machine and are used to transform traditional static applications into more enhanced, fluid, animated and engaging applications.

JavaFX - Environment

From Java8 onwards, the JDK (Java Development Kit) includes JavaFX library in it. Therefore, to run JavaFX applications, you simply need to install Java8 or later version in your system.
In addition to it, IDE’s like Eclipse and NetBeans provide support for JavaFX. This chapter teaches you how to set the environment to run JavaFX Applications in various ways.

JavaFX - Architecture

JavaFX provides a complete API with a rich set of classes and interfaces to build GUI applications with rich graphics. The important packages of this API are −

JavaFX - Application

In this chapter, we will discuss the structure of a JavaFX application in detail and also learn to create a JavaFX application with an example.

JavaFX - 2D Shapes

In the previous chapter, we have seen the basic application of JavaFX, where we learnt how to create an empty window and how to draw a line on an XY plane of JavaFX. In addition to the line, we can also draw several other 2D shapes.

JavaFX - Text

Just like various shapes, you can also create a text node in JavaFX. The text node is represented by the class named Text, which belongs to the package javafx.scene.text.
This class contains several properties to create text in JavaFX and modify its appearance. This class also inherits the Shape class which belongs to the package javafx.scene.shape.

JavaFX - Effects

An effect is any action that enhances the appearance of the graphics. In JavaFX, an effect is an algorithm that is applied on nodes to enhance their appearance visually. The effect property of the Node class is used to specify the effect.

JavaFX - Transformations

Transformation means changing some graphics into something else by applying rules. We can have various types of transformations such as Translation, Scaling Up or Down, Rotation, Shearing, etc.
Using JavaFX, you can apply transformations on nodes such as rotation, scaling and translation. All these transformations are represented by various classes and these belong to the package

JavaFX - Animations

In general, animating an object implies creating illusion of its motion by rapid display. In JavaFX, a node can be animated by changing its property over time. JavaFX provides a package named javafx.animation. This package contains classes that are used to animate the nodes.

JavaFX - Colors

To apply colors to an application, JavaFX provides various classes in the package javafx.scene.paint package. This package contains an abstract class named Paint and it is the base class of all the classes that are used to apply colors.

JavaFX - Images

You can load and modify images using the classes provided by JavaFX in the package javafx.scene.image. JavaFX supports the image formats like Bmp, Gif, Jpeg, Png.
This chapter teaches you how to load images in to JavaFX, how to project an image in multiple views and how to alter the pixels of an image.

JavaFX - 3D Shapes

In the earlier chapters, we have seen how to draw 2D shapes on an XY plane. In addition to these 2D shapes, we can draw several other 3D shapes as well using JavaFX.

JavaFX - Event Handling

In JavaFX, we can develop GUI applications, web applications and graphical applications. In such applications, whenever a user interacts with the application (nodes), an event is said to have been occurred.
For example, clicking on a button, moving the mouse, entering a character through keyboard, selecting an item from list, scrolling the page are the activities that causes an event to happen.

JavaFX - UI Controls

Every user interface considers the following three main aspects −

• UI elements − These are the core visual elements which the user eventually sees and interacts with. JavaFX provides a huge list of widely used and common elements varying from basic to complex, which we will cover in this tutorial.
  

JavaFX - Charts

In general, a chart is a graphical representation of data. There are various kinds of charts to represent data such as Bar Chart, Pie Chart, Line Chart, Scatter Chart, etc.
JavaFX Provides support for various Pie Charts and XY Charts.

JavaFX - Layout Panes(Containers)

After constructing all the required nodes in a scene, we will generally arrange them in order.
This arrangement of the components within the container is called the Layout of the container. We can also say that we followed a layout as it includes placing all the components at a particular position within the container.

JavaFX - CSS

Cascading Style Sheets, also referred to as CSS, is a simple design language intended to simplify the process of making web pages presentable.
CSS handles the look and feel part of a web page. Using CSS, you can control the color of the text, style of fonts, spacing between paragraphs, size of columns and layout.

JavaFX - Useful Resources

The following resources contain additional information on JavaFX. Please use them to get more in-depth knowledge on this.

Discuss JavaFX

JavaFX is a Java library used to build Rich Internet Applications. The applications written using this library can run consistently across multiple platforms. The applications developed using JavaFX can run on various devices such as Desktop Computers, Mobile Phones, TVs, Tablets, etc.