Java

Jive Software has always stood out to me as being a company that really cares about the user experience. I remember way back nearly 10 years ago when Jive Forums was one of the only (or at least most popular) commercial products built on the Java stack. Recently I was able to meet some of the Jive folks when I presented at the Portland Java User Group. You can tell that they are passionate about creating great software. So it’s great to see that Jive Software is embracing Flex!

The more software experiences become like the natural world the more users are pleased with those experiences. One of the most powerful, understandable, and universal concepts in computing is the idea of a desktop containing files and folders. Users embraced this metaphor in their software because it modeled their natural world experience.

There is a paradigm shift underway. In this shift, developers are creating user interfaces which more closely model the natural world. Since 2002, the term used to describe these types of software applications is “Rich Internet Applications”, or RIAs. Technologies like Ajax, Flex, Silverlight, Adobe AIR, and JavaFX are growing in popularity as this shift to RIAs gains momentum.

My friend Jon Rose has written a great article on using Flex and Java together. Jon is a long time Java programmer. We were coding Java web apps together back in the days before Struts. It’s great to see Jon making statements like “Flex is the most obvious and elegant solution currently available to Java developers.” The article also references some of my code from the Census App to show how easy it is to integrate Java & Flex. If you are a Java programmer you should definitely read this article.

As [previously discussed][1], my friend Joshua from Sun [recently blogged][2] about how the consumer JRE will take market share from Flash in 2008. Today Sameer Tyagi , also from Sun, [blogged][3] about problems with using Flex to front-end JAX-WS. Both posts seem to insinuate Flash and Flex as competitors to Java. Yet for me Java and Flex have always been a perfect match.

The continued success of Flash and Flex only helps to better position Java in the enterprise. Adobe is not a threat to Java’s continued dominance on the server. In fact many Adobe enterprise products are built on the Java platform including Flex Data Services. If you must have an enemy then I suggest targeting those who actually have something to gain by Java losing market share in the enterprise. That is definitely not Adobe.

My friend Joshua from Sun has predicted that “2008 will be the year that client Java starts taking market share from Flash”. This is a pretty bold prediction reminding me of when I used to hear this same sort of statement about Desktop Linux… “1999 will be the year of Desktop Linux”.

Don’t get me wrong… I love Desktop Linux. Been using it since about 1993. And I love Java. Been using it since 1996. But lets be honest about the reality of client Java, desktop Linux, anything that touches the mass consumer space. It has to just work. I’m thankful that Ubuntu and the Consumer JRE are headed this direction. But Flex and Flash are there today! Flash just works. So much so that in the first nine months, Flash Player 9 reached 84% adoption in the US and is likely well beyond 90% currently. That is a platform you can rely on. One you can build on today. Tons of consumer Flex applications have already been deployed. And tons more are not visible because they are still being built or behind the corporate firewall.

There is a ton of great Flex and AIR events going on over the next few months. Here’s the run down of events I’ll be at:

The FREE Flex Camp is July 27th in San Francisco. This is going to be a great way to learn more about Flex. Spots are going fast so go register today! I’ll be at this event so hopefully I will get to meet some of you in person.

On July 16th I will be presenting at the TriJUG in North Carolina beginning at 6:30pm. There will be some great give-aways including a copy of Flex Builder 2. Then on Tuesday July 17th, buni.org and I will be hosting a half day Flex Sprint in Durham. This will be a great opportunity to get some hands-on Flex training, FOR FREE! Andy Oliver and I will be helping as many people who show up, learn Flex. You just need to bring a laptop (with power adapter & wireless). Festivities begin at 8:30 and end at noon. We will meet on the lower floor of Bean Traders Coffee.

My all time favorite journalist, Robert X. Cringely, has just published his weekly PBS article, this time discussing the future of Adobe’s platform technologies. It’s a great read and great press for our (Adobe) platform. Let me know what you all think about his opinions.

It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling when the guy I learned Java web programming with starts saying things like:

“For me, Flex is clearly the way to go.”

The whole article is a great read for those evaluating the Rich Internet Application landscape.

Jon, we are glad to have you “Thinking in Flex” and can’t wait to see what you build!

There’s so much fun stuff going on it’s hard to keep my blog up-to-date. But I did want to note a couple of things…

Bruce Eckel will be at JavaOne! He will spend some time in the Adobe booth and some time at various sessions. But the big news is that he and I will be co-presenting a short session before the Adobe Party on Wednesday night. This will be a fun thirty minute session that will be entertaining and educational. Too bad this isn’t an official JavaOne session, but I guess Sun doesn’t want me presenting about Flex at JavaOne (They rejected my three submissions but possibly for other reasons.) Following the short session will be the party. Food, drinks, and hanging out with Bruce Eckel! Stop by the Adobe booth at JavaOne to get your official invitation (which I think you will need to get in).