Recently, I posted an article titled, Should You Use FXML?. In that article, I stated that I felt that well written and organized code would always be easier to maintain than any corresponding FXML/FXML Controller would be. I did not emphasize this, as the article was intended to be a discussion about the merits and costs of using FXML more than as a “is this better than this?”, exploration.
From time to time the question about, “To FXML or not to FXML” comes up on Reddit and other social media, and I’m know as being firmly in the “Not FXML” camp. I’ve had a few people message me about this, so I thought it might be a good time to examine this topic in depth.
OK, first off I know I’m swimming against the stream here, and at odds with things like this found in some of the tutorial pages from Oracle for JavaFX:
Way, way back in 2014 when I started learning JavaFX, I tried using Scene Builder and FXML and found it to be an amazing waste of time and effort. One of the best decisions I ever made was to abandon it early on, and just code screens by hand. I advise everyone else to do the same.
