JavaFx vs TornadoFx

Question

I have started working on javafx . I wanted to know the difference between javafx and Tornadofx . How they are inter-related and different from each other.

Also when to use what.

Are there any cases where javafx is more useful/advised to use than Tornadofx or vice-versa?

Answer 1

JavaFX is more like a toolkit (it has all the foundation needed for building a GUI). It is a feature-complete "toolkit", but it is very verbose, and the syntax contains boilerplate code, which makes it hard to maintain. That's where TornadoFX comes in. TornadoFX is like a framework based on that toolkit, which does away with all the boilerplate code, and makes the GUI building declarative, to the point that it resembles HTML.

Also, even though TornadoFX can be used from Java, it is meant to be used from Kotlin (JavaFX can be used from Kotlin also, without any issues).

TornadoFX simplifies and streamlines the GUI building process (makes the code cleaner), but it uses JavaFX "under the hood", and as such, is interoperable with JavaFX. For example, you can create a widget in pure JavaFX code, and then use it within TornadoFX, or, for example, create a whole window in TornadoFX, and then call it from JavaFX.

The main takeaway here is that TornadoFX doesn't restrict JavaFX in any way, and you can still reach low-level JavaFX stuff from TornadoFX.

Besides just the GUI builders, TornadoFX also contains useful tools like the ViewModel classes, which separate the GUI and logic (which is available, but not mandatory in any way), and some other useful tools.

Personally, I'd always use TornadoFX, because it makes the code very concise and easily-maintainable, while, at the same time, no features of JavaFX are lost.

Answer 2

Currently accepted answer didn't answer this part

Are there any cases where javafx is more useful/advised to use than Tornadofx

The point of the accepted answer is that for standard simple GUIs Kotlin combined with TornadoFX will get you up an running quick. This is true. Some examples where straight JavaFX is better:

• JavaFX 3D subscenes
• interops with Swing (I'm not sure how you would even use Kotlin here, but maybe TornadoFX by itself would work)
• Canvas based renders
• High Performance custom Event processing

Clearly these are scenarios that do not represent the majority of GUI apps, rather high performance and custom render type applications. So generally speaking if you are starting from scratch... ie... you aren't already well versed in JavaFX, then using TornadoFX is a good starting point.

On that note opting to use Kotlin as a starting point is interesting as well. I personally don't find it that advantageous over just writing in JavaFX, but I have a lot of experience with JavaFX so I might be biased. Also while you are not forced to do so... it is painful to develop in kotlin without intelliJ which is all part of that company's plan for making Kotlin in the first place.

All that said:

and the syntax contains boilerplate code

This is true to an extent and Tornado does reduce the boilerplate a bit by forcing you to go through a standardized set of APIs. But...

which makes it hard to maintain.

I disagree. It is not "hard" to maintain. It's code you copy/paste one time and likely never changed again. We should not be rushing so fast to obscure and encapsulate every last ASCII character from our code bases in the name of "maintainability" while shooting a torpedo into the side of our performance.