The Matt Faus Blog

Although Java provides a very thorough and straight-forward library for creating Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs), this task is always quite cumbersome. The design is often not too hard to create originally but if there ever needs to be anything added, removed, or modified, the code can get pretty messy. This problem arises because Java requires that you program a design, instead of describe it. The most often created graphical user interface is a webpage, and this is because they are so easy to create. The design of a webpage is not programmed, but described using a markup language such as HTML or CSS. This technique makes it much easier to build and maintain complex designs, but it does have limitations. Making applications in Java (and in general) requires a deep level of interaction and customization that HTML or CSS could never supply. Markup languages are used to display data, but Java applications are used to manipulate data, and this presents a problem. There must be, however, some way to abstract the design of a GUI to a higher level. Even a simple GUI in Java requires the instantiation of over a hundred objects, and this is not acceptable. I have seen WYSIWYG tools that will generate Java code from a drag ‘n drop design canvas, but I have never liked working with tools such as these. Ever since I started creating webpages, I have always preferred working with the text, not a design editor. One idea would be to integrate XML more closely with Java and use style sheets and transform files to describe the design, but I don’t envision this happening anytime soon. Maybe I’m just complaining unnecessarily, but I have never enjoyed programming GUIs in Java or any other language and I think something needs to be done to separate design and function. Programming languages are meant to do things, not describe things. That’s what’s great about creating web applications – you can use the language of your choice to provide the functionality and then generate simple HTML or CSS to display the output in a complex way.

(This is post number two for my Advanced Java class)

The Renaissance, the American Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, and now the Technological Revolution. The Internet, much like interchangeable parts and the power of steam of the past, is forging a new era in human history. We are the first generation of this era, and as it blossoms we will be able to ride the wave of splendor knowing that it was our minds and our keystrokes that brought this new age into existence. With the interconnection that the world is obtaining, I am sure to the beginnings of a global culture. There will no longer be Americans, Europeans, Asians, or Africans, there will be Earthians. The science fiction of yesterday is the reality of today. Just think that the science fiction you imagine now will soon be brought to fruition before your very eyes. Image the places we’ll go and the things we’ll see! Imagination is all it takes, and the world will kneel before you! The ability to bring your thoughts and ideas to life are like nothing they have ever been. This is all happening right here, right now. This is life. Thinking, dreaming, researching, building, expanding – the world never stops. We will make it spin faster. We will usher in a new and glorious age of history. We will build upon the past in ways unimaginable. We will see what has never been seen before. We will bend reality to our wills. We will never rest. We will never stop. We will never finish. We are the wave of the future.