While developing JavaFX applications, I always feel the great potential of transformational effects.

At the same time, I wonder how they actually work and why we need several classes and variables to perform the same transformation.

Share my experience of studying the essentials of transformations in the new technical article Enhance Your Application by Applying Transformations.

With the code samples provided in this article, you can learn how to employ transformations in your applications and combine them with animation.

Alla Redko
Technical Writer
JavaFX Docs & Training

One of our latest articles shows how to program an image slideshow in JavaFX. Users can learn this material in two different ways: by reading the article text itself, or by watching a video screencast.

We're considering adding more screencasts to future articles, but would like to first collect opinions from you, our readers.

Questions:

1. Do you find screencasts useful, and if so, why?
2. Do you find it easier to learn by reading a written tutorial, or by watching a video screencast?
3. Would you prefer that we produce more tutorials (and less screencasts), or more screencasts (and less tutorials)?

By taking just a minute to answer these questions, you will greatly help to improve our documentation.

Thank you,

Scott Hommel
Technical Writer
JavaFX Docs & Training

When you're developing a JavaFX application, how many times do you get to a point in the code and say to yourself "How do I do that?" and then you have to go searching for the answer. We writers found we were asking that question a lot. So we developed a set of how-to topics. Check 'em out:

http://javafx.com/learn/howto.jsp

The main categories are organized in the order in which you'd develop an application from start to finish. Some topics contain a number of subtopics. For example, the topic How do I work with shapes? contains separate topics on creating a variety of different shapes.

Whenever possible, topics include basic code that you can copy and paste into your application. Topics also contain links to other articles, samples, blogs, and videos that have more information on the topic.

There's space at the bottom of each topic for feedback. Let us know how you like this new feature, and if you can't find the answer to a question, be sure to make a note of it!

Want to make an image slideshow for use on your website? Find out how, with our latest tutorial and screencast from technical writer Scott Hommel. With these instructions, you'll walk through the end-to-end development of an image slideshow application, complete with animated fade transitions. The discussion is presented as six concrete steps, with each step building on the last. Get to the fun stuff with minimal effort by copying and pasting the source code, or just watch the video screencast to see it all developed with NetBeans IDE. 

We've updated the Tech Test Train. The new version features cumulative scoring and improved performance. The final score of a completed Route carries over to the next Route. A perfect game score is 27,000 points. Will you be one of the first to join the 30³ club? Try this new version and post your score in the comments section of the JavaFX Training page.

Two of our JavaFX tutorials are now available in Russian on developers.sun.ru:

• Learning the JavaFX Script Programming Language
• Building GUI Applications With JavaFX

If you're working as a designer on RIAs and exporting graphics to JavaFX with Production Suite, it's very helpful to know the features in your graphics tool that are supported for export.

The lists of supported features for Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, and SVG format have been available in the Production Suite online help, which is installed with the product, but now they are available on javafx.com, too.

• Supported Features for Conversion From Adobe Illustrator to JavaFX
• Supported Features for Conversion From Adobe Photoshop to JavaFX
• Supported Features for Conversion From SVG to JavaFX

Learn how to easily improve the visual appearance of your JavaFX applications with two new docs added to the Layouts, Effects, Themes section of our main Reference page.

Have you ever tried to make a shift in rendering textual content by applying a custom font? Read Using Custom Fonts in Your JavaFX Application, a technical tip provided by Dmitry Kostovarov. This tech tip describes how to make the text look just the way you want on any computer.

Benefit from different layout approaches discussed in Using Layout Containers by Inyoung Cho and Alla Redko. Play with the Flower Viewer demo to learn more about layout containers and choose the most appropriate model to arrange pictures in your application.

The Tech Test Train game has a new feature !

Now, the game will auto-complete your answer as you start to type the correct answer. This feature helps you complete your answer within the 15-second time frame. 

Try it and give us your feedback!

[The Tech Test Train game, an interactive eLearning game built entirely with JavaFX 1.2 technology.]

JavaFX.com now has a set of resources that can help you craft a better look and feel for your JavaFX applicaiton. 

Image, Color Schemes, Fonts, Sound Effects and Music and Icons - galore !! Check it out ! 

Sometimes it seems that all the world's a Java developer--but I'm not. I am Nancy Hildebrandt, a technical writer at Sun Microsystems, and I have more of a scripting background.

If you're new to JavaFX, and especially if you're new to Java too, here's a learning trail you can follow. Feel free to take shortcuts and move around in the list. The fastest way to learn is to keep trying and changing the JavaFX Script code yourself.

I recommend installing NetBeans IDE with JavaFX, since it has quite a bit of JavaFX help built in, plus an error-checking device that alerts you to problems in your code.

1. Build a very simple application of your own from scratch in the NetBeans IDE, such as creating a screen with simple text or one or two objects. If you get stuck, move ahead to the following steps to get more information.
   
   
2. Work through the following tutorials, in the following order.
   • Getting Started With JavaFX Technology
     Shows you how to build and deploy a basic JavaFX application in the NetBeans IDE.
   • Learning the JavaFX Script Programming Language
     Presents the basics of the JavaFX Script Programming Language
   • Building a GUI Application with JavaFX
     Shows some of the JavaFX API objects that are most commonly used when building an application with a Graphical User Interface.
   • Media Browser Tutorial and Application, especially Module 1 Task 1
     Module 1 Task has some basic information about setting up a scene and working with images.
3. Look at some of the articles and tech tips on the JavaFX Learn page. Each article and tech tip has an assigned level of Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced. Here are the current articles and tech tips for beginners:
   • 15 Minutes or Less: Basic JavaFX Graphics (video)
   • Animation Basics for JavaFX Beginners
   • Create a Quick-and-Dirty Reload Button
   • Creating Buttons With a Rollover Effect
   • Create an Easy Animated Line Graph
   • How to Develop and Run JavaFX Applications Offline
   New articles and tech tips come out every week, so keep checking the Learn page.
   Download the application when provided in the article, and make changes to it in the NetBeans IDE. Sometimes it's easier to figure out the purpose of an object when you can see what effect it has when you run the application.
   
   
4. Consult the following reference documentation:
   • JavaFX API documentation, especially the Master Index to look up information on individual classes or variables.
   • JavaFX Language Reference: Although it's still in draft form, there's some good information you won't find anywhere else.
   • Google searches (or any other search engine): there are lots of Web sites and blogs that have information about JavaFX.
5. Look at some of the JavaFX samples, especially some of the ones that extend what you have already learned, such as the following:
   • Fading Transparent Window (more mouseover effects)
   • Bounce: Nested Timeline Animation (a more complex animation example)
   • Calculator Widget (based on concepts taught in the GUI tutorial)

Over the past few weeks, we've posted two articles describing how applets written in the JavaFX Script programming language can interact with JavaScript code in the pages that contain them.

The first article , written by Sun engineer Ken Russell, describes this JavaFX Script - JavaScript bridge. It covers the technical details of calling from JavaScript into JavaFX Script and vice versa. In this article you will learn how to set variables, invoke functions, descend into the scene graph, show documents in a web browser, and more.

The second article, written by Sun technical writer Scott Hommel, renders a set of 2D dice, with values that are set by the containing JavaScript. This short tutorial walks the user through the application development process, covering additional considerations to make when using the javafxpackager tool.

If you have an existing MIDP application or are interested in learning about using JavaFX technology with a mobile application, check out the following: Enhance Your MIDlet With JavaFX Technology explains how to use JavaFX technology to improve your existing MIDlets. From MIDP to RIA: Enhancing Radio Buttons shows how JavaFX code can be used to provide a richer UI for your MIDlet and uses radio buttons as an example.

Bookmark the Learn page on javafx.com, because it's updated every week. The list of tech tips is growing, and there's something for every level of JavaFX developer:

Beginner Creating Buttons With a Rollover Effect Intermediate Creating a Drawing Application in 5 Minutes How to Improve JavaFX Application Startup Time Preparing a Sample for JavaFX Mobile Technology Animation Along an Arbitrary Path Using Resources From the External JAR File Repainting Objects at Runtime Using Custom Swing Components Advanced Running Time-Consuming Operations in the Background Mode

Besides tech tips, there are new articles listed on the JavaFX Learn page, plus all of the tutorials and getting started guides that came with JavaFX 1.1.

When you want your data to make a good impression, you have to present it in a way that will attract attention and be easy to understand.

The Learn page on javafx.com has two new articles that show how easy it is to create visually appealing animated graphs in JavaFX. Create an Easy Animated Line Graph demonstrates how to create an animated line graph. Create Jazzy and Jazzier Bar Charts shows how to create two different bar graphs.