I'm curious, do people tend to use the Swing library or JavaFX?

Neither.

@ChrisCooney what library do you use?

I am curious too... Or is pure java no-go for gui now?

Fx.

@strayn I was just having a dig. I'm a big fan of moving these types of technologies to the web and having a HTML / pure JavaScript UI.

@ChrisCooney smart, probably a lot easier to control the graphical components with css!

What is the best way to have web/html interface to java backend app? I've tried so many approaches, just not convinced by any so far. My current approach is to go with python / node backed frontend and api into a java backend... Stupid???

It really depends on what you're trying to do. Java is the enterprise language. If you need an enterprisey solution, it's a good shout and you can use something like Spring MVC to define an API. The Spring boot project is a great place to start. But Python can make a great API too! Tools for the job. :)

You're absolutely right, I fell in love with spring boot a couple of months back, but I just can't build a front end with it

Swing :-( I'd love to move but I'm not sure I can get my client to spring the £250k it'll take to redo all of the GUIs

I really have to some day learn where this love for Spring and Spring Boot comes from. Don't they still rely on XML configuration?

When I need a Java web framework that really stays out of my way, I reach for Jooby.

i think JavaFx was made to replace Swing.... but swing is still there to stay since it is stable.
javafx have very good look and feel but still has issues handling stuffs

@kshep92 no they don't. That's the point of Spring Boot. No config. Everything is annotation driven. There's a properties file you can populate with custom values if you want, but you don't need to!

Spring boot has taken off because of the starter kits. You stick to the Java Ecosystem and familiar Spring tooling, but none of the bullshit that comes with a lot of Java!

You're right though. It's absolutely not a silver bullet and the bloat ware that comes with it is real.

JavaFX replaced swing