Is Apache Pivot the next competitor for Adobe Flex ?

The Apache foundation has just released Apache Pivot, a fully open-source framework containing RIA components. The novelty about Apache Pivot is that it allows the definition of User Interfaces by using the XML-based language BXML, with a syntax like the following (taken from the Apache Tutorial website):

<Window title="Hello BXML!" maximized="true"

    xmlns:bxml="http://pivot.apache.org/bxml"

    xmlns="org.apache.pivot.wtk">

    <Label text="Hello BXML!"

        styles="{font:'Arial bold 24', color:'#ff0000',

            horizontalAlignment:'center', verticalAlignment:'center'}"/>

</Window>

The code above produces the following output:

The example above is very simple and probably doesn't trigger any Wows! However have a look at the website because there are many much more advanced components, all of which can be declared through BXML.

If this technology proves itself successful, Apache Pivot might very well be the Java-based (since any language which can run in a JVM could be used to create Pivot components) competitor for Adobe Flex.

Happy technology to everyone!

 

http://pivot.apache.org/