Compiling Java to HTML5

I've been using Java for years and am still wistful for the days of applets where you could write a simple program, post it on a webpage and let anyone on the world use it without having to worry about certificates or permissions.

The web world has moved onto HTML5 which provides most of the web readiness the applets had, but which is also much harder to program in.  I've come across some projects like DukeScript that let you write in Java and then convert that to HTML5, but that is proprietary.  Are there any open source projects around for writing in Java and then converting it to HTML5?  Are there any plans for Oracle to provide tools that do this?

While I personally detest these types of tools, what you might be looking for is GWT or the related vaadin. (Though I'm not sure either is open source.)

Mark McKay wrote:without having to worry about certificates or permissions

This is also one of the reasons why applets failed in the first place. You should always worry about certificates and permissions.

Stephan van Hulst wrote:

Mark McKay wrote:without having to worry about certificates or permissions

This is also one of the reasons why applets failed in the first place. You should always worry about certificates and permissions.

Another reason is that with applets you need to have a JRE installed on your PC. Imho, at that point, it would more simple to develop a traditional Java application for desktop.And distribute it via jws.

As Bear said, GWT (which is open source) and its ecosystem do this. There are other Java frameworks (like Apache Wicket) that take a code-centric approach to generating an HTML client. Compared to GWT - which has a steep learning curve, IMO - it might be easier to get started with.

If you want one to leverage the other, you need to decide which one is being leveraged, and which one is doing the leveraging. For example, it is possible to emit HTML5 from a Java servlet, as it is possible for a HTML5 web page to include a Java applet

What you should be thinking about is how browsers have changed. A lot of what Java Applets did is redundant now .
Partly due to HTML5 but to a greater degree the developments in javascript.

One issue I had with applets is that they removed the capability of playing MP3s from the Java media library . It was some sort of legal/rights issue BS. So, I could produce a video player but not an audio player on page. Lame.

HTML5 solves that problem .

I would say forget about bandaids for old technology ,it's time to move on.