Compiling and Running a JavaFX Program

Compiling and Running a JavaFX Program

One important advantage of JavaFX is that the same program can be run in a variety of different execution environments. For example, you can run a JavaFX program as a stand-alone desktop application, inside a web browser, or as a Web Start application. However, different ancillary files may be needed in some cases, for example, an HTML file or a Java Network Launch Protocol (JNLP) file.

In general, a JavaFX program is compiled like any other Java program. However, because of the need for additional support for various execution environments, the easiest way to compile a JavaFX application is to use an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that fully supports JavaFX programming, such as NetBeans. Just follow the instructions for the IDE you are using.

Alternatively, if you want to compile and test a JavaFX application using the command-line tools, you can easily do so. Just compile and run the application in the normal way, using javac and java. Be aware that using the command-line compiler neither creates any HTML or JNLP files that would be needed if you want to run the application in a way other than as a stand-alone application, nor does it create a JAR file for the program. To create these files, you need to use a tool such as javafxpackager.