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Introduction To Swing In Java

Introduction

 
In this article, we discuss Java Swing as used for "Graphics programming in Java". We discuss the basic classes of Swing, why we use it, its advantages and a comparison with AWT.
 

Swing in Java

 
It is a Java Graphical User Interface (GUI) toolkit. It is an Application Programming Interface (API) for providing a Graphical User Interface (GUI) for Java programs.
 
It is a part of the JFC (Java Foundation Classes), that is an API for providing a graphical user interface for Java programs.
 
It is used to create a GUI with Java.
 
Need for Swing
 
Since we already have a class AWT for a GUI, why do we need Swing for GUI? Here are some points that describe the need of Swing:
  • lightweight
  • configurable
  • platform-independent
  • customizable
  • extensible

Swing Hierarchy

 
Swing Hierarchy
 

Swing Packages

 
The main packages in swing are:
  1. javax.swing.text
  2. javax.swing.plaf.multi
  3. javax.swing.text.html
  4. javax.swing.text.html.parser
  5. javax.swing.text.rtf
  6. javax.swing.tree
  7. javax.swing.undo
  8. javax.accessibility
  9. javax.swing
  10. javax.swing.border
  11. javax.swing.colorchooser
  12. javax.swing.event
  13. javax.swing.filechooser
  14. javax.swing.plaf
  15. javax.swing.plaf.basic
  16. javax.swing.plaf.metal
  17. javax.swing.plaf.synth
  18. javax.swing.table
It is an update GUI toolkit. It adds various components to our window frame like lables, buttons, scrollbars, tables and trees.
 
Example
 
In this program we make a simple window without any extra features or functionality.
  1. importjavax.swing.JFrame;    
  2. importjavax.swing.SwingUtilities;    
  3. publicclass Example123extends JFrame    
  4. {    
  5.     publicExample123()    
  6.     {    
  7.         setTitle("Just a simple program of Java Swing");    
  8.         setSize(425, 350 );    
  9.         setLocationRelativeTo(null);    
  10.         setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);    
  11.     }    
  12.     publicstatic voidmain(String[]args)    
  13.     {    
  14.         SwingUtilities.invokeLater(newRunnable()    
  15.         {    
  16.             publicvoid run()    
  17.             {    
  18.                 Example123esw =new Example123();    
  19.                 esw.setVisible(true);    
  20.              }    
  21.        });    
  22.     }    
  23. } 
Output
 
When we run our program, a window will be generated that is like the following window:
 
javac Example123.java
java Example123
 
pic-1.jpg
 

Advantages of Swing

 
Swing has the following advantages over AWT:
  • Provides both additional functionalities and added components to AWT-replacement components
  • Swing components are platform-independent.
  • Swing components can use a different look and feel.
  • Swing components use the Model-View-Controller paradigm (MVC) and thus can provide a much more flexible UI.
  • Swing components are lightweight (are less resource-intensive than AWT).
  • Swing provides built-in double buffering.
  • Swing provides paint debugging support for when you build your own components.

Disadvantages of Swing

 
Swing has a few disadvantages, they are:
  • it can be slower than AWT (all components are drawn) as if we're not careful in programming.
  • It requires Java 1.2 or a separate JAR file.
  • Swing components that look like native components might not act exactly like native components.


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