This autumn, I got up to speed with JavaFX thanks to "The Definitive Guide to Modern Java Clients with JavaFX 17: Cross-Platform Mobile and Cloud Development" by Stephen Chin, Johan Vos, James Weaver (+ guest authors).
If you are looking for motivation on why JavaFX is still relevant, the book starts by discussing the relevance of JavaFX in modern client development. The authors aim to provide content to help you understand how to build a JavaFX application, integrate well with cloud technologies, and package and ship it for the platform of your choice (desktop or mobile). Moreover, the book includes practical examples and real-world scenarios to help developers grasp JavaFX's capabilities, including its rich user interface components:
Walks through creating a basic JavaFX application.
Explains the structure of JavaFX applications by covering essential UI components and event handling.
Covers layout management to create responsive UI designs.
Delves into the world of JavaFX controls and how to use them effectively.
Discusses 2D and 3D graphics, animation, and multimedia elements.
Offers best practices for creating visually appealing interfaces.
As I am interested in building and deploying applications, I was happy to see an emphasis on packaging JavaFX applications for desktop or mobile platforms, but also on how to use JavaFX on Raspberry Pi. If you are interested in machine learning or other scientific applications that can make use of JavaFX, the last two chapters of the book will inspire you.
In summary, "The Definitive Guide to Modern Java Clients with JavaFX 17" is an excellent resource for developers who aim to build cross-platform client applications using Java language constructs.