Develop Reference

how to use ArcGis in javafx

i am using ArcGIS Library for a geospatial project. the sample codes available in their website was fully in java Swing. i need to do path animation in it using javaFX. is it possible.? if yes, can any one suggest me a sample code to create a map.?
Sample code for creating a map in Swing

I don't think you can pull this off using JavaFX, since JMap extends JComponent and is a class provided by the ArcGIS. Unless, they release a version which is supporting JavaFX, things are not very good.
The least you can do is to embed this JMap into a JavaFX application using SwingNode. An example on how to achieve this can be found here.
I am not sure what you want to achieve, when you say "path animation in it", but if it has something that can be achieved without using the internal components of JMap, you can do it !

JMap is a Swing component. JavaFX 1 was built on Swing and supported wrapping a Swing component. JavaFX 2 does not use Swing and does not support wrapping a Swing component. It is anticipated that the upcoming JavaFX 8 will support using Swing components in a JavaFX application.
UPDATE: ArcGIS Runtime is getting support for JavaFX! See http://blogs.esri.com/esri/arcgis/2014/09/17/arcgis-runtime-plays-at-10-2-4/ for details.
You have some options:
Go back to JavaFX 1 (not a good idea IMO)
Turn it around and use JavaFX components in a Swing application (see http://docs.oracle.com/javafx/2/swing/swing-fx-interoperability.htm)
Wait for Java 8, or go get the developer preview of Java 8.
Wait for ArcGIS Runtime 10.2.4 (to be released any day now), which will have beta support for JavaFX.
Sources:
How to wrap a swing component in a javaFX 2.0 application
Class SwingNode (JavaFX 8)

Maybe a bit late but... ArcGIS Runtime for Java's latest beta (Quartz) offers much more JavaFX support.
https://developers.arcgis.com/java/beta/guide/release-notes-java.htm

Using JavaFX Chart in Swing Application

I have a traditional Java swing application (extends JFrame and has a main class) that uses JFreeCharts for some charting functionality. I have recently seen JavaFX and think these charts look alot refresher and will give my users a better experience. I wish to embed a JavaFX chart scene into a jInternalFrame (which in turn is called from my jDesktopPane).
I have followed a simple tutorial on how to create both a javafx application and a javafx chart but I am stuck on to how I get the scene inside my existing code. One example I have been through shows me how to achieve this but means converting my project to a javafx one which extends "application" class.
How can I achieve what I want? Is it not possible to keep my existing JFrame as the top level class and simply add a JFXPanel to my jinternalframe.
Any help would be great, please note I have been through some tutorials and they require me to convert my project to javafx - I simply want a javafx scene in my existing swing app.
Many thanks,

You don't need to convert your Swing application to a JavaFX application. You can place a JavaFX Chart in a JFXPanel which may be placed in a Swing component. The javadoc I linked includes sample code for embedding a JavaFX node in a Swing application.
Review the official JavaFX for Swing Developers tutorial trail from Oracle.
Also look at the Embedding JavaFX in Swing sample of SwingInterop for embedding a chart in a Swing application. The sample is provided by Oracle under the BSD open source license so that you can use it in your application.
Despite all this, my advice, unless it is a large, existing Swing code base that you just want to use a couple of JavaFX features in, is to write your application as a pure JavaFX application rather than a mixed Swing/JavaFX application.

Creating a simple gui in java for running a background process

Well, I had this question in mind for a long time.
Even though I have a complex requirement,i will keep it as simple as possible.
I have background process which takes two arguments which I use to execute from command line.
The first argumets can have three valid values and the secong argument can have two valid values.
I usually run that process on command line in solaris unix.and that process is completely coded in C++.
What I want now is I wish to create a simple gui in java for running the process in background.
I am complete new to the advanced concepts of java, and I am aware of some core java which I studied in my college days.
So,My question overe here how do I start creating a gui?
What all do I need to create a simple gui using java?
I am confident enough to learn gui programming in java as I am a c++ programmer.
Please give me some right directions to give some life to my thought and any some good materials available on the net would be helpful.

I would start by looking at;
Creating a GUI with Swing
Concurrency in Swing
Concurrency in Java
I'd also become familiar with ProcessBuilder (a simple example) and Basic IO
MarvinLabs also makes some great points as well

The Google search you'll want to use is "java swing tutorial". Swing is Java's GUI library.
You can also have a look at: Java GUI frameworks. What to choose? Swing, SWT, AWT, SwingX, JGoodies, JavaFX, Apache Pivot?

You really just need a JFrame and a JPanel. The JFrame is the physical window that the gui lives in, while the JPanel is the content manager. You place JComponents (e.g. JLabel, JComboBox) into the JPanel.
Java Api: http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/
Examples of using each component: http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/components/index.html

IMO, you may try using JavaFX 2.1 to develop your GUI in java. It has Scene builder tool to design your application, built-in support css-like skin.
Check the concurrency in Javafx 2.1 here.

Information about swing components (java)

After learning python (cpython) and using this page to search for tkinter widgets' options, methods and patterns, I've started to develop in jython due to javax.swing module from java which can help me make platform-independent GUIs.
My question is: is there a page like the one I mentioned above which presents the options and methods of swing objects?

is there a page like the one I mentioned above which presents the options and methods of swing objects?
Yep (at least on a class level).
Have a look at the package summary for javax.swing (part of the API documentation):
Package summary: javax.swing
Also, here is a page with screen shots of most of the standard components:
A Visual Guide to Swing Components

What Java GUI framework is good for a first GUI project?

The title description basically says it all. I'd like to use something that requires a relatively short learning curve since it is my first project and I'd like to spend at least some of it actually writing the code, not just learning how to do it, but also something that has good documentation in a way that some new bleeding edge framework probably wouldn't. Any ideas?

If what you want to do, is actually create a working program with a GUI, and you just want to do that I would recommend looking at the Swing GUI editor in NetBeans, as it is very easy to work with and powerful too.
There is an old demonstration floating around showing how to implement a preference panel like the one in Netscape Navigator (the predecessor to Firefox), but I cannot find it right now.
The Java tutorial trail is here: http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/uiswing/learn/index.html
EDIT: It appears the preference panel demo has been taken offline. You may want to see this demo for NetBeans 6.0 instead: http://www.javalobby.org/eps/matisse-updates/

It's not clear if you mean a desktop or Web GUI.
For a desktop GUI, just use Java's Swing framework. Creating a GUI With JFC/Swing is a starting point for that. Sure it's old but then again so is Swing. You could also try The Java Swing tutorial.
For a Web GUI, start with servlets/JSPs. Try Servlets and JavaServer Pages (JSP) 1.0: A Tutorial.

Swing + MiGLayout ^^

I know you did say you wanted a simple and easy to learn GUI toolkit. #cletus has nailed that answer :)
But if need to look for alternatives and evaluate them before you decide how to write a GUI, check out this list of alternatives to Swing and AWT.

Swing + GroupLayout
I've been posting on these a couple of times.