I am planning on making a Java Swing application and was wondering if Swing is still used or if it has been replaced with something else.
Thanks in advance!
short and to the point.
Tom
2010-06-08 02:35:51
"Applet Portability: most Web browsers support AWT classes so AWT applets can run without the Java plugin."This is patently false.
Paul Fisher
2010-06-08 02:06:18
ugh? I guess this is 1990s and you are still using Netscape 4.0, right?
J-16 SDiZ
2010-06-08 02:11:47
I wouldn't recommend AWT, it gets very little love these days (other than the bits that are needed for Swing). Better to use SWT if you want to go down the native path.
CurtainDog
2010-06-08 03:54:50
"Most Web browsers do not include the Swing classes, so the Java plugin must be used." — What? The Swing classes are part of the JRE, not the browser. I don't recall this being a problem in 2003.
detly
2010-06-08 05:53:53
“they *may* not look like their native counterparts” – that one made me giggle. At least on Windows I have yet to see a single control (apart from JLabel maybe) that looks and feels like its native counterpart with the “native” LAF :-)
Joey
2010-06-19 10:29:16
+3
A:
We still use it. Not everything is a web app, so far there have been some tentative replacements (such as SWT, which eclipse is written in)
SWT has a native layer that wraps the underlying calls to the native windowing layer. It only works for a limited set of platforms and of course requires some third party shared libraries. I would venture to say that there are far fewer SWT apps than Swing apps.
Romain Hippeau
2010-06-08 01:54:16
+1
A:
Yes, it still is in use. The library is still part of the JRE, and will probably be that way for the future. There are other options though. For instance, you may want to look at JavaFX if you need a rich UI; or using SWT in your application. Maybe you want some kind of 3D effects, and you need to look into a 3D engine like jpct or the jmonkeyengine. Java has progressed somewhat since the software Swing world.
JavaMan
2010-06-08 02:59:22
+7
A:
Swing is still there and well supported.
Most of the reasons why people hated swing when it first came out are no longer valid simply because of Moores Law, along with improved JVMs. Swing apps no loger feel jerky and unrepsonsive and an accumulation of minor improvements result in a more professional looking GUI.
Its also worth looking at the "groovy/swing" combination for rapid development and prototyping.
James Anderson
2010-06-08 03:38:57
Docs for Swing, on the other hand, are dire to nonexistent.
JUST MY correct OPINION
2010-06-08 04:07:43
Aggree that the docs are lacking somewhat, but, IDE support is pretty good, and, googling usually gets you some decent usage examples.
James Anderson
2010-06-08 05:52:23
There is a lot of tuning in Swing that cannot be attributed to Moores law.
Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen
2010-06-08 06:21:53
@JMcO For documentation -> http://download-llnw.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/
h3xStream
2010-08-01 00:56:19
A:
Swing is still the preferred way to build heavy-weight, e.g. "Desktop" applications, in Java. If your code is running in a web browser, you will likely use other things. But for freestanding desktop apps, it is quite excellent and in wide use.
Joe Zitzelberger
2010-06-08 05:40:27
+1
A:
Yes, it's still in use. Takes while to get used to but once you have it, it's a pretty nice framework for writing applications. Have a look at Webstart for deploying your application. Also a bit of a clunker to start with but really handy when you're comfortable
Jamie McIlroy
2010-06-08 05:49:12
+1
A:
Although swing is still in use, I would rather chose Eclipse RCP as a platform for desktop applications, since it also provides a huge amount of plugins.
stacker
2010-06-08 05:50:43
Eclipse RCP uses Eclipse's own SWT, which means you need the native SWT libraries. You can also build on the NetBeans Platform, which is built on Swing: http://platform.netbeans.org/
Jesper
2010-06-08 11:14:13
A:
For desktop programs, yes, Swing is heavily in use. However there are many alternatives because alot of people think that Swing is heavily verbose and hard to work with. JavaFX is worth taking a look at
TheLQ
2010-06-08 05:51:36
JavaFX is for web apps is it not? I am looking to make native Desktop apps.
Mark Szymanski
2010-06-08 22:10:04