Chapter 8 -

The JXul Open Source Project

“XML gives Java something to do.”
- Jon Bosak, “XML, Java, and the Future of the Web”

In this chapter we will examine a prototype of the JXul project. The purpose of JXul is to integrate XUL into the Java platform. We will examine the goals of the project, its initial design and then walkthrough an explanation of its major components. The walkthrough will be accompanied by code samples and screenshots. The chapter will conclude with a discussion of the project’s future direction and information on how you can get involved!

Why JXul?

The motivation for the JXul open source project is to create a cross platform execution engine for Mozilla’s Application Object Model. This would free XUL applications from the browser and allow the use of XBL to be the standard for all user interfaces, both web and for standalone applications. The concept of isolating code from the user interface description has been around a long time. In fact, the Macintosh has allowed the storage of user interface resource descriptions in a separate resource fork in data files since 1984. As an example of the power of JXUL, Figure 8.1 is the JXUL version of the Xul example application, the “Business Asset Manager” introduced in Chapter 4.