gui design

java-programmer, gui design Hi all, I'm new to java, can anyone recommend a good book/source on good gui
design? I'm trying to learn how to write clean, efficient gui interfaces that
could be done independently of the code that will use it.
thanx
gebuh

java-programmer >> gui design Andrew Tucker wrote:
> I am new to gui design and wanted some confirmation: I have been
> constructing JPanels w/in JPanels and then arranging them w/ GridBoxLayout.
> Is this correct / optimal?

This is fine. JPanel is good for grouping of components,
and it is not uncommon to have several layers of these.

As to the question of layout manager, you must choose the
one that fit your needs. There are several issues to consider:

o Initial layout
o Resize behaviour
o Robustness in terms of language changes and font changes.

java-programmer >> gui design Andrew Tucker wrote:

> [...] I have been constructing JPanels w/in JPanels
> and then arranging them w/ GridBoxLayout.
> Is this correct / optimal?

I provide the free Forms layout system that aims
to make simple things easy and the hard stuff possible,
good design easy and the bad difficult. See
http://www.jgoodies.com/freeware/forms/index.html
The project is hosted at JavaDesktop.org, see
http://forms.dev.java.net/

BoxLayout and GridBagLayout are quite limited
in their layout capabilities; from my perspective
they are insufficient for well-designed UIs.

I've put together a tiny presentation about essentials
for screen design; these things cannot be done with
the JDK layout managers (except with an extended
SpringLayout), see
http://www.jgoodies.com/articles/layout-essentials.pdf

I have found in my layout courses that many developers
have difficulties to understand the GBL; and even
if you can manage it, your layouts are difficult to read.
It seems that developers can better read (and write)
layouts that explicitly specify a grid-based layout.
That's why layout managers like TableLayout or
HIGLayout are well-received. My FormLayout is
intended to supercede the latter managers and the GBL.

The Forms Demo shows some layout tasks that seem
to be simple, yet you can hardly implement them
with any of the public available layout managers. See
http://www.jgoodies.com/downloads/demos.html
And you can find more design at
http://www.jgoodies.com/freeware/

Hope this helps,
Karsten Lentzsch
www.JGoodies.com - Java User Interface Design

java-programmer >> gui design "Andrew Tucker" <email***@***.com> wrote in message news:<email***@***.com>...
> I am new to gui design and wanted some confirmation: I have been
> constructing JPanels w/in JPanels and then arranging them w/ GridBoxLayout.
> Is this correct / optimal?
>
> cheers, Andrew.

It's GridBagLayout or BoxLayout, not GridBoxLayout.

Both are pretty good layout managers. GridBagLayout has a hard
learning curve but works well when mastered.

- Mitch

java-programmer >> gui design mitch gart wrote:

> Both are pretty good layout managers. GridBagLayout
> has a hard learning curve but works well when mastered.

I don't quite agree.
Here are some technical weaknesses of the GBL:

1) It cannot give columns the same width,
2) it cannot ensure that all rows have the same height,
3) it does not retain proportions if the font,
font size or screen resolution changes,
4) it has no means to provide minimum sizes
5) it has no means to provide logical sizes
6) it has no means to align multiple panels
7) it does not align font base lines
8) it does not align perceived widget bounds

I must admit that 7) and 8) are really hard stuff.

I provide an article that identifies some non-technical
weaknesses of the popular Java layout managers. See
http://www.jgoodies.com/articles/forms.pdf

Hope this helps. Best regards,
Karsten Lentzsch
www.JGoodies.com - Java User Interface Design

java-programmer >> gui design Core Java I - Fundamentals is one of the best Java books I have ever
read. The examples are clear and useful. They also cover a lot of the
basics for GUI applications. Volume II of this series goes into a lot
more detail about some other programming aspects, including GUI
programming and design.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0131482025/qid=1102338973/sr=8-2/ref=pd_csp_2/103-3229633-0300625?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

GEBUH wrote:
> Hi all, I'm new to java, can anyone recommend a good book/source on
good gui
> design? I'm trying to learn how to write clean, efficient gui
interfaces that
> could be done independently of the code that will use it.
> thanx
> gebuh