Apache Pivot 1.4 vs. JavaFX, Flex, Silverlight, Sw

Question

I've recently heard about Apache Pivot being moved to the Top Level Projects category and I was wondering who has tried the most recent version and compared it to other RIA tools. What are the proper categories for comparison?

It seems to be easier to pick up for Java developers since JavaFX has a different scripting language. The Pivot developers say that Pivot is what Sun should have made instead of JavaFX.

Answer 1

Well, I checked pivot 1.4. You can have sub-windows.

Oracle/Sun is putting a lot of effort into promoting JavaFX but it seems to me that all the layout feature etc from swing are gone in profits to some multi-media stuff. Right now FX and business applications are two things very far from each other.

For business RIA application, my first impression is that Pivot is much better designed than FX.

Pivot provides a lot: binding, easy web service, nice design, xml definition of UI... - Yes a lot to consider for a Java developer.

Not perfect but looking at what they have accomplished these last 6 months... impressive!

Answer 2

Good to hear from you. :-) I agree that we tend to focus more on applet deployment in Pivot's design. However, there is nothing inherent in the platform that prevents an application from using multiple top-level windows. It's just not something we cater to since it isn't relevant to our primary use case (which, as you noted, is browser deployment). Note that it is also not possible to create multiple top-level windows in Flex or Silverlight.

Re: "who is creating applets these days?" - it's not so much about creating applets as it is about creating RIAs. If you ask the question, "who is creating RIAs?", I think the answer would be "a lot of people". Pivot simply allows developers to build RIAs in Java (rather than ActionScript, for example).

Greg

Answer 3

If you are intereseted in the statistic view - I compare through 'google trends' between JavaFx to 'Apache Pivot' and looks like there is no competition - JavaFx lead in a rate that is close to 1 to 0

so it gives perspective about the standard of the industry towards those frameworks.

http://www.google.com/trends?q=apache+pivot%2C+javafx&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=1

Answer 4

I worked with Pivot and even been part of Pivot development. It is a nice little library, but...

It cannot replace Swing or JavaFX. The original authors are positioning it to compete with Adobe Flex. Because of that its concepts are more like applet than desktop application. It is almost impossible to create a modern desktop application simply because it has a concept of one main window and all the child windows are "inside" of it. I discussed this with authors but it looks like this is the way they want to go.

The library uses its own custom collections library which is sort of strange, but it isn't a show stopper.

Other then that the library is nice. But who is creating applets these days?