Which Rich Client Platform to use

Question

We recently started to develop a Java desktop app and management has requested that we make use of Rich Client Platform. I know of four for Java namely:

1. Eclips

Answer 1

There is also Reflection-based UI generation and customization.

Instead of customizing an IDE to fit your needs, you will customize a GUI generated by default. It may be interesting to try a new approach.

https://github.com/dotxyteam/ReflectionUI

Answer 2

I recommend that you take a look at JSR 296 - it's not complete yet by any stretch, but I think it hits the sweet spot for providing certain core functionality that you really, really need in every Java GUI app, without forcing you to live in an overly complicated framework.

I have used JSR 296 successfully to create a mid-sized application. For window layout in this app, we use MyDoggy (highly recommended). For layout management, we use MiGLayout (Beyond highly recommended). For data binding, we use a modified form of JSR 295 (we implemented something similar to PresentationModel on top of JSR 295 that we use for our GUI binding). I'm in the process of incorporating Guice as a DI mechanism but haven't finished that effort (so far, I think it will 'play well' with JSR 296 with a tweak here and there). Let's see... persistence is the big missing link here - I am currently evaluating Simple for XML persistence, but am running into issues with getting it to work with DI containers like Guice. I have Betwixt working, but the dependencies on Betwixt are huge so we are looking for something more streamlined.

Opinions on other RCP options for Java:

NetBeans: I have some fundamental philosophical objections to the approach used by NetBeans (too many design anti-patterns for my taste). In the end, the framework forces you to make poor design decisions - and it's almost impossible to use if you don't use NetBeans as your IDE (I tried, but I just couldn't switch from Eclipse to NB). It's probably just me, but it seems that it should be possible to write code for an RCP framework without using big complicated wizards and reams of auto-generated code and XML files. I've spent so many hours troubleshooting old Visual C++ code generated by Visual Studio that I'm extremely leery of any framework that can't be coded up by hand.

Spring RCP: The folks at Spring have a good solid design, but the documentation is really, really weak. It's pretty difficult to get up to speed on it (But once you do, you can get things done pretty quickly).

Eclipse RCP: Haven't used Eclipse just because of the deployment overhead (depends on your target audience - for us, deploying an extra 50 MB of runtime just didn't work). Without question Equinox is a beautiful thing if your app needs significant plugin functionality (of course, you could run Equinox with JSR 296 as well, or use design patterns similar to the Whiteboard pattern promoted by OSGi).

Answer 3

I have experience with the Eclipse RCP and would recommend it.

Pros:

• Components - component / plu-in model allows for reuse.
• Uses SWT and JFace which allows for native looking UI
• Pluggable Views, Editors, and Perspectives make layouts easy and configurable.
• Eclipse extension points make extending and integration with 3rd party APIs and tools easy.

Cons:

• Learning curve

If you choose Eclipse RCP, defiantly get this book, it is invaluble when just starting out with the framework: http://www.amazon.com/Eclipse-Rich-Client-Platform-Applications/dp/0321334612

Answer 4

Too late to answer, but some guys might hit this page.

I would go for Netbeans RCP, 1)Netbeans platform. its quite mature and has evolved is a 'easy to use' platform for developing applications.

2)Its very easy to get started with, whereas the learning curve of eclipse RCP is pretty steep. Just goto, http://netbeans.org/kb/trails/platform.html, there you will tutorials, videos(do watch the top 10 api's videos plus try out tutorials before you read books, that way you will get a hang of things beforehand).

3)Books on netbeans RCP (i guess there are 2 on netbeans RCP) are uptodate (small changes only which you wont have much issues with). whereas the main book on RCP wasn't available for a long time (recently .that is, may 2010, the new edition has been released, so that's a very good thing for eclipse RCP developers. It wasn't there when i was trying to learn it. I get frustrated with authors who don't publish new editions, almost leaving new developers in lurch. Not everybody likes to read docs. Not publishing updated books almost amounts to killing the technology). I would love to see a cookbook type book for both platforms.

4)Netbeans has full integrated GUI builder, which is big plus. Eclipse RCP, either you have to hand code or buy some third party GUI builder.

5)Netbeans platform has this pretty cool Lookup api for intermodule communication. I guess eclipse guys use extension points for this purpose. But lookup api is easy once you get a hang of it.

6)Anyways, its a big design decision, about which platform to choose. Netbeans platform works for me. It may not work for you. Both platform require efforts, both provide wonderful 'out of the box' features. Test drive both and then decide.

Answer 5

While I haven't explicitly used any of them, I have used portions of the Eclipse RCP. Specifically, I've used the Eclipse OSGi runtime (Equinox) and some common utilities and I've very pleased. OSGi is fantastic to work with. I have several friends on large contracts which use Eclipse RCP (more than I use) and they rave about it.

If my project didn't contain a large mount of legacy Swing, Eclipse RCP would be my first choice. OSGi is just so much fun! (I imagine Spring uses it too, haven't checked though)

Answer 6

Eclipse RCP provides plug-in mechanism so that you can add new features later on the deployment. Also via the update mechanism you can change the system without user interference. In the development phase, Eclipse RCP provides a fast, robust ground with perspectives, views, editors, command and action mechanisms. If your project requires many different windows with different toolbar and menus (and also custom context menus) I suggest you to use Eclipse RCP. I only check the videos of Netbeans Platform and run the Helloworld project but it seems slow and clumsy :) 40 seconds to start-up (you can reload the application though w/o restart.) vogella.de is a good collection of tutorials for Eclipse RCP