Thursday, September 19, 2002

Will Java come back on the desktop?

The debate on SWING seems to be finally heating up, with Alan Williamson's recent article Swing Is Swinging Java Out of the Desktop describing what he sees to be the fundamental flaws in Java's desktop strategy. In addition to the article itself, make sure you take a look at the lively discussion in the "Reader Feedback" section at the end of the article.

A debate on the merits of SWING is long overdue if Java is going to find itself a place on the desktop in competition with Microsoft. For far too long the Java community has tried to fit every software client problem into a web browser. There are some applications where a rich client application really is the right answer. A major part of Microsoft's push with .NET will be in creating a new focus on the user experience and what can be done in a rich client environment. The Java community needs an answer that is based on the standards process to answer the need for a rich client environment with Java.

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