chess board in java

Question

This is my code below

import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;

public class board2 {

JFrame frame;
JPanel squares[][] = new JPanel[8][8];

public board2() {
    frame = new JFrame("Simplified Chess");
    frame.setSize(500, 500);
    frame.setLayout(new GridLayout(8, 8));

    for (int i = 0; i < 8; i++) {
        for (int j = 0; j < 8; j++) {
            squares[i][j] = new JPanel();

            if ((i + j) % 2 == 0) {
                squares[i][j].setBackground(Color.black);
            } else {
                squares[i][j].setBackground(Color.white);
            }   
            frame.add(squares[i][j]);
        }
    }

    squares[0][0].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("rookgreen.png")));
    squares[0][2].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("bishopgreen.png")));
    squares[0][4].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("kinggreen.png")));
    squares[0][5].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("bishopgreen.png")));
    squares[0][7].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("rookgreen.png")));

    squares[7][0].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("rookred.png")));
    squares[7][2].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("bishopred.png")));
    squares[7][4].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("kingred.png")));
    squares[7][5].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("bishopred.png")));
    squares[7][7].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("rookred.png")));

    for (int i = 0; i < 8; i++) {
        squares[1][i].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("pawngreen.png")));
        squares[6][i].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("pawnred.png")));
    }

    frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
    frame.setVisible(true);
}

public static void main(String[] args) {
    new board2();
}
}

I am trying to create a chess game sort of and I need help with putting labels on all sides of the board to label the rows and columns in either A-H or 1-8. I have no idea how to do it. Also later on I'll be adding a feature to drag and drop the pieces. Is it best to use JLabels? Anyways I would I go about putting the labels on the side? Thanks!

Answer 1

Go here. This shows some of the different layouts you can use. One thing you may want to look into is the grid layout. This would make it easy for you to add JPanels for the squares. You could also use it to add labels around the board, but that is just one way of doing it. Go through the examples on the site, there is example code too.