Commencing JavaFX 2.1 Development Using CentOS 6.2's 'Software Development Workstation' Configuration

About a month ago, I tried to get started with the JavaFX 2.1 Developer Preview on my CentOS 5.5 Linux system. I didn't get very far, due to dependency problems (a great many of the CentOS 5.5 packages were too old). After deciding I didn't want to risk making my system unstable, I took a look at the package list for the latest CentOS (6.2) and found that the great majority its package versions are sufficiently recent to enable running the JavaFX 2.1 Developer Preview. So, over this past weekend, I made the switch from CentOS 5.5 to CentOS 6.2.

During the CentOS 6.2 installation, I was surprised to be presented with a set of baseline configuration choices (Desktop, Minimal Desktop, Minimal, Basic Server, Database Server, Web Server, Virtual Host, and Software Development Workstation). "Software Development Workstation" sounded pretty good to me, so I selected that option. As the install proceeded, I was pleased to see all kinds of useful packages being loaded onto my system: OpenJDK 1.6, OpenJDK development packages, Python 2.6.6, Boost, MySQL, OpenLDAP, Postgres, NumPy, NetCDF, git, Apache Server, Ant, Eclipse, MatPlotLib, Subversion, LaTeX, Qt, Swig... Those are just a few of the packages I noted as their names flashed rapidly by on the screen. Quite a nicely configured "out-of-the-box" Linux system for a software engineer!

With respect to Java development, the Eclipse version is 3.6.1. Also on the Applications/Programming menu I found the OpenJDK Monitoring and Management Console (JConsole, Version 1.6.0_22-b22), and the OpenJDK Policy Tool.

Running JavaFX 2.1 Developer Preview Build 13 Samples on CentOS 6.2

The JavaFX 2.1 Developer Preview Release Notes for the Linux distribution define Ubuntu Linux 10.4 or higher as the required Linux operating system. The notes also say that JDK 6 update 26 or higher is required. The default JDK version for CentOS 6.2 is 1.6.0_22. I'll address that soon (I'm actually planning to start running JDK 7). But even with the not quite recent enough JDK version, most of the JavaFX 2.1 Developer Preview samples run under the out-of-the-box CentOS 6.2 "Software Development Workstation" configuration. For example, here's a screen shot of the Brick Breaker sample app in action:

So, the initial evidence is that CentOS 6.2 can be added to list of Linux operating systems on which you can develop JavaFX applications using the JavaFX 2.1 Developer Preview. That's excellent!

Poll

Our new Java.net poll asks Will you use JavaFX for development once it's fully ported to Mac and Linux platforms?. Voting will be open until Friday, March 2.

Java.net Weblogs

Since my last blog post, several people have posted new java.net blogs:

• Gabriele Carcassi, Dealing with real-time data in UIs (and others);
• Amy Roh, Running GlassFish 3.1.2 with Apache HTTP Server; and
• Heinz Kabutz, Java Mind Gymnastics.

Articles

Our latest Java.net article is Michael Bar-Sinai's PanelMatic 101.

Java News

Here are the stories we've recently featured in our Java news section:

• Geertjan Wielenga considers JIDE, JFreeChart, JavaFX, and Enterprise Applications;
• Dustin Marx shares Questions at My RMOUG Training Days 2012 Presentation on JavaFX 2;
• Heather Van Cura announces JSR updates;
• Markus Eisele shares Jfokus 2012 Trip Report;
• Matt Raible presents Comparing Web Frameworks and HTML5 with Play Scala at Jfokus 2012;
• Blaise Doughan demonstrates JAXB and Package Level XmlAdapters;
• Jonathan Giles announces More of the JavaFX Scenegraph open sourced;
• Henrik Stahl announces Updated Java 6 EOL date;
• Arun Gupta shares Jfokus 2012 Trip Report;
• Geertjan Wielenga presents Video: Unlocking the Java EE 6 Platform;
• Jean-François Bonbhel shares 2011 : What I did !;
• Matt Raible reports on Play Framework 2.0 with Peter Hilton at Jfokus;

Spotlights

Our latest Java.net Spotlight is Richard Bair's A Short Tour Through JavaFX-UI-Common:

We've just recently announced the release of the “javafx-ui-common” project into OpenJFX. The name may be a little underwhelming, but the content is absolutely core to JavaFX. For most developers interested in contributing to JavaFX and in understanding how the system works, javafx-ui-common and javafx-ui-controls will be the two most important projects...

Our previous Spotlight was Janice J. Heiss' Agile ALM: A Conversation with Java Champion and ALM Expert Michael Hüttermann:

This series of interviews spotlights Java Champions, individuals who have received special recognition from Java developers across industry, academia, Java User Groups (JUGs), and the larger community. Michael Hüttermann is a developer and coach on Java/JEE, SCM/ALM, SDLC-Tooling and agile software development. A Java Champion, he is certified as SCJA, SCJP, SCJD, and SCWCD, and he is a member of the JCP...

Before that, we highlighted Julien Ponge's Adding Some Agility to Java EE Application Deployment with GlassFish:

Four noteworthy features in GlassFish add agility to Java EE application deployment. Deploying and managing Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) applications seems like a fairly established activity. Applications can be deployed, undeployed, and upgraded through a combination of deployment and undeployment. Applications use various types of resources, such as...

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-- Kevin Farnham
Twitter: @kevin_farnham