# JavaFX

16 Hacker News commenters recommended JavaFX and 11 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Free Java toolkit for desktop apps, liked for its binding, scene graph and CSS model; critics say it needs extra programming.

## Why people recommend it

- Binding, scene graph and CSS model (2 comments): "I really like the programming model with its binding and scene graph and CSS." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49714353)) "One thing JavaFX got right was CSS support." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49799416))
- Renders without a browser (2 comments): "I want to run the same UI on Mac and Windows, and I don't want it to be an Electron web app in a box" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49713362)) "It likely would use less, and doesn't use a browser for rendering." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47837160))
- Pure Java desktop development (2 comments): "enjoying pure Java development on desktop (Swing, SWT, JavaFX)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47229885)) "Should just use javafx or swing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46863803))
- Composable reactive API, not React-style (3 comments): "A good example of getting this right is JavaFX which lets you build up functional pipelines that map data to UI" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47572533)) "I actually really like the API - it's not a ReactJS based paradigm that never really gelled for me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50256035)) "it's a nice composable reactive framework to use" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49801386))

## What people warn about

- Removed from JDK, forcing workarounds (2 comments): "JavaFX was later ripped out of Java, to my chagrin, forcing a number of technical contortions." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49482616)) "then JavaFX was removed from JDKs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49387065))
- Patchy, inconsistent UI concept support (2 comments): "Even JavaFX shows very patchy support for certain very standard UI concepts" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47426391)) "I also found JavaFX to be a bit inconsistent" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46734957))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Qt](https://hackerapproved.com/p/qt.md): 191 recommend
- [GTK](https://hackerapproved.com/p/gtk.md): 85 recommend
- [Windows Forms](https://hackerapproved.com/p/winforms.md): 76 recommend
- [SwiftUI](https://hackerapproved.com/p/swiftui.md): 75 recommend
- [Tcl/Tk](https://hackerapproved.com/p/tcl-tk.md): 61 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "JavaFX", https://hackerapproved.com/p/javafx/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).