I have worked primarily in Java since 1997; applets, ME, web, SE, EE, and some etc. I mention this mostly to establish that I'm not new to the technology, or the community. But I don't keep up with the latest information on all the different parts of the Java world; I imagine the only people who have time to do that do not also have full-time jobs programming in some specific slice of it; in other words, if you have a 40-hour-per-week (or more) job supporting and improving your organization's flagship web application, you could easily get out of touch with things going in SE or Mobile. There just doesn't seem to be time to read it all, not with movies to watch, houses to clean, and children to raise. That's the way it is with me, anyway.
I lately have been looking at technologies new to me that might be useful for a new project. I ran across JavaFX, which I'd heard about but didn't realize was oncoming as 'the' desktop UI replacement for Swing. I was interested in pursuing more information on the idea that our new project's needs might be met with a client/server approach, using JavaFX (and its supposed ability to be installed via a click on a webpage) and a set of webservice endpoints.
In addition to the fact that JavaFX, like Swing, has been incorporated into Java's runtime, was the description of Scene Builder. I have looked at and used a number of what-you-see-is-sort-of-what-you-get builders and am sceptical in general, but thought it was worth looking into to see if someone had finally solved the bigger problems and made one that was production ready.
I spent hours over 3 days trying to figure out where Scene Builder was. The Oracle JavaFX tutorial sings its praises and has clear links to where to go to download it and where to look for installation instructions. But the links are broken, or lead to pages that aren't FX, or mysteriously lead to pages about archived Java downloads with warnings about no longer receiving patches and other support.
I think I've finally pieced together what has happened: Oracle decided that Scene Builder is no longer to be one of their supported tools; they turned the source over to the open source people and removed it from their pages with current downloads. I find it curious that they did not also remove tutorials that reference the now-non-existent Oracle pages; it does not speak well for Oracle's documentation that one can root around this long without finding either the page that is indicated or a message that it has been retired or whatever.
I don't know if the open source crowd would be interested in taking over the tutorials as well. But I'm guessing not, because they don't even provide any easy way to use the tool. There's no installer, no jar file. Evidently to use the open source tool you must download the source and build your own. It's a little like going on the web to purchase a microwave and finding only places that provide you with metal boxes, hinges, doors, glass plages, rotating platforms, and gizmos that produce microwaves. And rubber feet.
This rather discourages me from pursuing Scene Builder further as a production-level tool. I don't want to support something the size of a GUI builder myself, and if all there is is source code that's what it seems I'm doing. Any time we choose a tool, we need to evaluate whether it has the kind of support we need for our project. The latest trendy thing is not necessarily a good idea; it is typical for a workaday application out here in the streets to live 10 years or more, and finding yourself dependent on a tool that had a 1-year heydey 2 years ago is nervous-making.
So I conclude that JavaFX itself is evidently going to be supported by Oracle long-term, but that Scene Builder is not. The Open Source community might make a fine tool out of it, I don't know - so far any tutorials (or installers) they've produced for it haven't made it to Google's first page.
On reading over this post, I cleared the box marking it as a question. I'm not expecting anyone to come up with a link that I missed to Scene Builder, the fully-supported production-ready tool. But I would be interested in others' thoughts on this general problem, as well as any on using JavaFX as a platform for a client in a client/server application.