Java Plugins - thing of the past?

[Rob Hunter]

I've heard that Chrome and all other major browsers plan to follow suit on removing Java plugins from use within their browsers. I have a number of applet classes I've developed that generate various shapes and associated labelling, diagrams that use jFreechart, etc.., and I was wondering what approach should I take to ensuring my code still works? Will there be some sort of workaround or a possible solution in the works to handle this or should I take an entirely different approach to doing what I'm already doing in my applets. If so, what are my options? Thanks again.

Rob

[Bear Bibeault]

True web applications. Modern HTML5 and JavaScript (in a modern browser) suits 99% of the things one used to really on plugins to do.

Forget Flash. Forget Java Applets. Forget ActiveX. They are all mastodons mired in the tar pits.

[Rob Hunter]

Thanks for the note Bear. So you're suggesting to use HTML5 and JavaScript to draw images and labels along with various graphs (i.e. box and whisker, etc..,)? I was leaning towards actually trying to replicate the code in Flash - you think that's on it's way out as well or has it already begun? Any info you can pass on would be greatly appreciated since I need to determine the next step to take to handle all of this.

Rob

[Bear Bibeault]

Flash is dead. It's not on way out, it's not just begun to get phased out, it's dead.

For charting you likely do not want to roll your own. Check out charting packages such as HighCharts or (if you really want to get your hands dirty) D3.js. There are others as well.

Between JavaScript, the canvas, and SVG support, drawing doesn't need to happen statically on the server anymore.

[Tim Holloway]

A major automobile manufacturer lost a chance to sell me a car because their website wouldn't work without Flash - I visited a competitor's non-Flash website and ended up buying from them.

I use Firefox under Linux, and support for Flash has been sporadic there. More recently I get static about Flash from mobile devices. Flash will work on my current desktop, but I've had so much grief from loud auto-playing bandwidth-sucking ads and news articles that I have things blocked to the point where all I'll see is a blank rectangle unless I take steps to explicitly enable Flash for the page it's on.

So I agree with Bear.

I'm not real keen on using JavaScript instead of Java, but considering that recent plugins have made even JavaScript look good compared to the Microsoft-level security issues in applets, I would stay away from client-side Java. So much for the mighty sandbox.

[Claude Moore]

Bad news even for Java Fx, then....
BTW: I asked Avery similar question here