And also, Matt says this:
XUL and SWT the future of UI Programming?
SWT has created lots of love for Eclipse, and I'm willing to bet I'll write a XUL application in the next couple of years. Russell Jones from DevX.com explains how these might very well be the future of cross-platform GUIs.
The reality of a single cross-language, cross-platform GUI interface programming model is in sight, based on an XML description language supported by fast native runtimes. Will Mozilla, Eclipse, or someone else step in and complete the last mile that gives all developers a common way to design and program fast cross-platform user interfaces?
XUL seems to be simply a combination of XML and JavaScript from this example. So the question is, will you be writing HTML, XML, XHTML or XUL in the next couple of years. To stay ahead of the game, I recommend writing your web-based apps in XHTML (which is XML) and if you migrate to XUL, it'll be easy as pie. In my opinion, if you're doing GUI dev right now, you need to start thinking about XUL. I think we need a decent XUL implementation in Java YESTERDAY. I'll expand on this thought later... but it's super important in my mind.
-Russ [Russell Beattie Notebook]
I wonder if a java XUL implementation is a good idea.
What this would bring you is native use of java classes from XUL, which would be cool but a double edged sword: XUL is only one piece of the Mozilla architecture puzzle. The real power of the approach resides in the component model, XPCOM, and the bindings it allows from components to javascript.
If you only implement XUL and not XPCO, the XUL apps created this way would not be portable to other XUL implementations, namely Mozilla.
The right thing to do I think is to work on the java-XPCOM interface to make the java constructs easily accessible from XUL using XUL's architecture, based on XPCOM. I wonder if it's not done already. Haven't look at that in years :-)
But if you want to go ahead anyway with XUL in java, the best implementation strategy would be to make a Jelly module, Jelly:XUL, like Jelly:Swing.
3:55:18 PM Google It! 
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