Hi folks,

I've been a lurker for quite some time.
Today my concentration is lacking so I
can't get any work done. So I came here
to rant

As most of you already know, Java on the
desktop has had its share of bad days.
Sun and the community has been trying to
get out of that jinx for the longest time.
Remember the applet v.s. Flash thing?
Java Webstart is a God-send, but where are
the killer apps?

Now I've been following Processing since
Day 1. I didn't get involved because I
already don't have a life due to work.
I'm glad Processing used Java and even
happier to see Processing take off into
the stratosphere, because I tried to do
something like that as a personal toy for
the past 6 years:
http://www.rexguo.com/hypernet.html
http://www.waterlogic.com.sg/hypernet/index.html

Those of you who use Processing have something
that many 'professional Java developers'
don't: a sense of aesthetics and ability
to turn that image in your mind's eye
into working code. Well, maybe it's the
other way around sometimes, esp when
experimenting, but that's another topic
This collective vision and ability is exactly
what Sun and the desktop community needs
IMHO. Has anyone thought of getting more
involved with the shaping of Java's future
now that Sun has opened up:
https://mustang.dev.java.net/

I think the synergy can be great and
the results mind-bogglingly great for
Mankind, *if* the initial obstacles for
getting artists to work with engineers
can be overcome. But we only need to
consult the games industry for wisdom
and solutions on this problem of babel.
For a start, the single biggest unsolved
problem for desktop Java is the
look-and-feel of Swing (the GUI API):
http://www.google.com/search?q=java+look+feel
Isn't this what the graphic designers and
interaction designers among you are
great at?

No, I don't work for Sun nor am I an
evangelist for any Java lobbying group.
I'm somewhere in the middle of art
and engineering. My day job is what
you'd call a 'Java developer', working
on a desktop product using HyperNet.
At night I visit websites like Processing
and the demoscene (e.g. http://ths.demoscene.org/start.html)
for illuminating computational art.

Talk to Hans Muller. Maybe something
can happen.
http://today.java.net/pub/au/16

.rex