I just visited the (new?) JavaFX site in order to keep up to date on how the new kid to the Flash/Silverlight/”Rich” block was doing, and I was presented with an interesting site indeed. Make sure to click some of the “Resource” links on the right to get the full experience.

The whole thing is built in HTML and JavaScript, with the odd Quicktime player for good measure. Unfortunately the site creeks along at 100% CPU with jerky transitions, ugly styling and flickering madness as the browser can’t figure out what to render, with Quicktime movie’s and HTML Divs strobing in and out of existence as you drag panels around. So far not a great impression given.

I understand it’s possibly too early for them to have built the site in JavaFX itself perhaps, given that the examples all launch using Java WebStart, that crusty and most user-frightening of technologies. But there are technologies out there that would do this job better and hopefully more successfully demonstrate a platform that is meant to be fluid, powerful and rich. As a result the site left me slightly frustrated as it potentially gets in the way of the information it presents.

So is this a successful demonstration of Sun’s new rich technology, or perhaps this site is a hindrance? I’m very keen to see how JavaFX fairs against such strong competition, for developers it is rarely a bad thing to have more choice. It’s particularly interesting to note that whilst Adobe have strong desktop and mobile offerings, and also server side counterparts in BlazeDS and LiveCycle; both Microsoft and Sun have also got -or at least have committed to having- full stack offerings that range from mobile through desktop and server; and having your various teams all talking the same language is quite a strong driver in choosing your technologies when human resource is the most expensive factor.

Visit JavaFX.com and decide for yourself.