Starting with Java 11, JavaFX was separated from JDK and now evolves within the OpenJFX project. Version 2 of JavaFX already came as a set of Java libraries. The first version of JavaFX was a scripting language built on top of the JVM. JavaFX was released as part of the JDK in 2008. Swing APIs introduced in 1998 were built on top of AWT and were aimed at extending the AWT functionality.

First Java versions contained only AWT (Abstract Window Toolkit), a low-level abstract graphic API. But as the demand for full-blown desktop apps grew, Java evolved accordingly. At first, the focus was made on applets, small applications deployed in web browsers. Graphical components have been present in Java since the early age of the language. They can also reference APIs from other Java libraries to use all capabilities of the language and connect to server apps. JavaFX apps run consistently in different environments: desktop, web, mobile, and embedded systems. JavaFX is an open-source platform containing graphics and media tools for developing and deploying rich client applications - programs that store and retrieve data and perform most operations locally, i.e., on a client machine.

Javafx memory card game