Object Database

I saw an advertisement while perusing a technical magazine. It was for an object database created by InterSystems. The product was called Cache. What caught my eye was the claim that it had technology to persist Java objects with a relational mapper.

The object model for Cache is based on the Object Database Management Group (ODMG) standards. It works with C++ and .NET as well as Java. The marketing boasts 5x the speed of normal relational databases.

Cache is meant for Rich Internet Application development. It uses an application server. However there are multiple ways to make use of the object database. You can use templated classes. There are also lightweight API calls for direct database access. Finally there is the Jalapeno technology.

Jalapeno stands for JAva LAnguage PErsistence with NO mapping. You create your Plain Old Java Objects (POJO) first. Then you use Cache to generate a schema to work with those objects. Cache has a library class to deal with the database. You can apparently just focus on your POJOs, and Cache will do the rest like magic.

Java FX Mobile

Sun Microsystems has released Java FX Mobile. It is for development of Rich Internet Applications (RIAs). Java FX Mobile is based on Java Micro Edition (Java ME). As you would expect, it is similar to the desktop version of Java FX.

Java FX Mobile can run as an applet in a browser, on the desktop, or on a mobile phone. You know it is going to be targeted to mobile phones. However the beauty of it is that it also works elsewhere.

Java FX itself comes with a lot of default behavior built in. That means it should be easy for developers to produce applications which immediately fall back to defaults which work well. This is unlike plain Java, where you need to roll a lot of your own code from scratch.

There is a Java FX software development kit (SDK) available. I know that as soon as I get a handle on Java basics, I am going to want to be trying different frameworks and APIs in the Java world. Perhaps I may take Java FX Mobile for a spin.

JavaFX is Here

Today I was reading the latest issue of Software Development Times magazine. There was an article on JavaFX in the first couple pages. Years ago I would have skipped over it. Now my eyes are trained to spot Java related technologies and dig in.

JavaFX is a platform for rich client Java applications. They can run as desktop or web applications. It is a late comer to the rich Internet application scene. AJAX, Adobe Flex, and Microsoft Silverlight are the competitors. And they have all beat Sun to the punch.

Strangely enough, Sun Microsystems considers JavaFX a replacement for PHP. Its biggest benefit is the ability to use Java classes. It can run in the Java Virtual Machine. Some call the syntax similar to that of JSON.

You can use JavaFX for things such as animation and special effects. I would have thought you could use Swing for that. In fact, many of the user interface controls in JavaFX come from Swing. I am busy learning the basics of Java right now. However JavaFX might be worthwhile when I get my legs in Java basics.