ReportMill SnapTea
Productivity
report designer
SHOW HN2019
Legend
ReportMill SnapTea
300k lines of Java UI code running native in browser at desktop speed
reportmill.com#java to javascript#teavm#report designer#swing in browser#webassembly
289points
236comments
#109of 2,195 in 2019
Top 5%of 2019 by points
How HN took it
DebatedReal support and real criticism
18 positive, 14 neutral or asking, 6 mixed, 25 critical, out of 63 comments about the project. Thread score -0.03.
Performance: 10 for, 7 againstIdea: 4 for, 5 againstDesign: 1 for, 7 againstExecution: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Impressive engineering and fast load time once cached
From 3 comments
This is an impressive feat of engineering. But unfortunately, the resulting UI is completely inaccessible to blind users with screen readers, and probably users with some other…
mwcampbell on HNI've done both CheerpJ and TeaVM. CheerpJ is awesome - it's a complete port of the JVM to JS and apps often work with no modification. However, the app + runtime is about 75mb…
jeffreportmill1 on HNThis is pretty awesome. The UI load time and responsiveness are vert impressive. I hate web dev with a passion and I've been looking for something like this.
allisterb on HN
Runs well on iPad and phones
From 2 comments
I went in with low expectations, but this works surprisingly well on iPad.
saagarjha on HNIt even runs reasonably well on iPhone - though squinting required. And an Apple pencil doesn't hurt, too.
jeffreportmill1 on HN
Objections
Laggy UI and poor performance in Firefox
From 3 comments
No, this is definitely not running at desktop speeds. I have a Ryzen 7 2700, and this thing lags often even with basic UI operations (clicking buttons and menus, dragging…
lasagnaphil on HNHmm. I have 4-core i7-4770, but the UI on this thing lags a lot, all widgets generally feels sluggish. Such graphics operations don't require a lot of CPU, though, remember that…
majorexception on HNIt's cool, but it runs at about 10 FPS at best for me :P
seba_dos1 on HN
Inaccessible to screen readers
From 1 comment
This is an impressive feat of engineering. But unfortunately, the resulting UI is completely inaccessible to blind users with screen readers, and probably users with some other…
mwcampbell on HN
Blurry rendering on some high DPI displays
From 1 comment
This doesn't support native high DPI rendering. I think it's rendered at low DPI, and upscaled/blurry on my laptop. Other commenters have stated that it uses canvas.
jimbo1qaz on HN
Requests
Accessibility support
From 2 comments
This is an impressive feat of engineering. But unfortunately, the resulting UI is completely inaccessible to blind users with screen readers, and probably users with some other…
mwcampbell on HNThat's true if the application is entirely about visual layout, e.g. positioning and font sizes. But a blind user should still have an accessible way of controlling the content…
mwcampbell on HN
Keyboard shortcuts and edit menu support
From 1 comment
It runs slightly worse than most java UIs for me on a Dell + i7 + Chrome, for me. I also could not use any keyboard shortcuts, and the edit menu options did nothing at all.…
DiseasedBadger on HN
Questions
Can existing Java libraries like GeoTools be included
From 1 comment
This is fantastic. I tried it out and works very well. I am self taught python and a bit of javascript to put front end to python servers. I have not really ventured outside that…
benboughton1 on HN
Does it work on older browsers
From 1 comment
This is awesome! Great work. How does this work on older browsers? It would have a leg up on current web assembly if it's backwards compatible.
droobles on HN
Alternatives named
CheerpJ
From 2 comments
I think the big win is that TeaVM has a lighter runtime and conditionally compiles only what is needed into the final JavaScript. There are tools that let Java do this now, but I…
jeffreportmill1 on HNI've done both CheerpJ and TeaVM. CheerpJ is awesome - it's a complete port of the JVM to JS and apps often work with no modification. However, the app + runtime is about 75mb…
jeffreportmill1 on HN
JSweet
From 1 comment
There are a few people working on similar projects, which I can use if absolutely needed (CheerpJ, JSweet). But you're right. It makes me sad that Oracle doesn't do something…
jeffreportmill1 on HN
Qt WebAssembly
From 1 comment
this makes me think of Qt in a web browser using WebAssembly [0] I find it really impressive that desktop applications can now run quite smoothly in a web browser. In like 15…
thope on HN
Eclipse RAP
From 1 comment
https://www.eclipse.org/rap/ (and others) doesn't work that well because the event model between web and desktop is radically different. if you don't have complex interactions or…
LoSboccacc on HN