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TABLE OF CONTENTS (HIDE)

1. Introduction

Java Programming Tutorial 2. Programming GUI with AWT

2.1 AWT Packages
2.2 AWT Containers and Compone

Programming Graphical User 2.3 AWT Container Classes

2.4 AWT Component Classes

Interface (GUI) 2.5 Example 1: AWTCounter

2.6 Example 2: AWTAccumulator
3. AWT Event-Handling
3.1 Revisit Example 1 AWTCounter
3.2 Revisit Example 2 AWTAccumul
3.3 Example 3: WindowEvent and
1. Introduction 3.4 Example 4: MouseEvent and M

So far, we have covered the basic programming constructs (such as variables, data types, 3.5 Example 5: MouseEvent and M
decision, loop, array and method) and introduced the important concept of Object-Oriented 3.6 Example 6: KeyEvent and Key
Programming (OOP). As discussed, OOP permits higher level of abstraction than traditional 4. Nested (Inner) Classes
Procedural-Oriented Languages (such as C). You can create high-level abstract data types called 4.1 Without Inner classes
classes to mimic real-life things. These classes are self-contained and are reusable. 4.2 What are Inner classes?
4.3 Example 7: A Named Inner Cla
In this article, I shall show you how you can reuse the graphics classes provided in JDK for
4.4 Example 8: An Anonymous Inn
constructing your own Graphical User Interface (GUI) applications. Writing your own graphics
4.5 Example 9: An Anonymous Inn
classes (and re-inventing the wheels) is mission impossible! These graphics classes, developed by
4.6 Example 10: Using the Same L
expert programmers, are highly complex and involve many advanced design patterns. However,
5. Event Listener's Adapter Classes
re-using them are not so difficult, if you follow the API documentation, samples and templates
5.1 Example 11: WindowAdapter f
provided.
5.2 Other Event-Listener Adapter
I shall assume that you have a good grasp of OOP, including composition, inheritance, 6. [SKIP] The Legacy "this" Listene
polymorphism, abstract class and interface; otherwise, read the earlier articles. I will describe
7. Layout Managers and Panel
another important OO concept called nested class (or inner class) in this article.
7.1 FlowLayout
There are current three sets of Java APIs for graphics programming: AWT (Abstract Windowing 7.2 GridLayout
Toolkit), Swing and JavaFX. 7.3 BorderLayout
1. AWT API was introduced in JDK 1.0. Most of the AWT UI components have become 7.4 Using Panels as Sub-Containe
obsolete and should be replaced by newer Swing UI components. 7.5 GridBagLayout
2. Swing API, a much more comprehensive set of graphics libraries that enhances the AWT, 7.6 Example 1
was introduced as part of Java Foundation Classes (JFC) after the release of JDK 1.1. JFC 7.7 BoxLayout
consists of Swing, Java2D, Accessibility, Internationalization, and Pluggable Look-and-Feel 8. Swing
Support APIs. JFC has been integrated into core Java since JDK 1.2. 8.1 Introduction
8.2 Swing's Features
3. The latest JavaFX, which was integrated into JDK 8, was meant to replace Swing. JavaFX
8.3 Using Swing API
was moved out from the JDK in JDK 11, but still available as a separate module.
8.4 Swing Program Template
Other than AWT/Swing/JavaFX graphics APIs provided in JDK, other organizations/vendors have 8.5 Swing Example 1: SwingCount
also provided graphics APIs that work with Java, such as Eclipse's Standard Widget Toolkit (SWT) 8.6 Swing Example 2: SwingAccum
(used in Eclipse), Google Web Toolkit (GWT) (used in Android), 3D Graphics API such as Java 9. Using Visual GUI Builder - NetBe
bindings for OpenGL (JOGL), Java3D, and etc. Furthermore, developers have moved to use 9.1 NetBeans
technologies such as HTML5 as the basis of webapps. 9.2 Eclipse
You need to refer to the "JDK API documentation" for the AWT/Swing APIs (under module
[Link]) while reading this chapter. The best online reference for Graphics programming
is the "Swing Tutorial" @ [Link] For advanced 2D
graphics programming, read "Java 2D Tutorial" @ [Link] For 3D graphics, read my 3D
articles.

2. Programming GUI with AWT

I shall start with the AWT before moving into Swing to give you a complete picture of Java Graphics.

2.1 AWT Packages

AWT is huge! It consists of 12 packages of 370 classes (Swing is even bigger, with 18 packages of 737 classes as of JDK 8). Fortunately, only
2 packages - [Link] and [Link] - are commonly-used.
1. The [Link] package contains the core AWT graphics classes:
GUI Component classes, such as Button, TextField, and Label.

GUI Container classes, such as Frame and Panel.

Layout managers, such as FlowLayout, BorderLayout and GridLayout.

Custom graphics classes, such as Graphics, Color and Font.

2. The [Link] package supports event handling:

Event classes, such as ActionEvent, MouseEvent, KeyEvent and WindowEvent,

Event Listener Interfaces, such as ActionListener, MouseListener, MouseMotionListener, KeyListener and

WindowListener,
Event Listener Adapter classes, such as MouseAdapter, KeyAdapter, and WindowAdapter.

AWT provides a platform-independent and device-independent interface to develop graphic programs that runs on all platforms, including
Windows, macOS, and Unixes.

2.2 AWT Containers and Components

There are two groups of GUI elements:

1. Component (Widget, Control): Components are elementary GUI entities, such as Button, Label, and TextField. They are also called
widgets, controls in other graphics systems.
2. Container: Containers, such as Frame and Panel, are used to hold components in a specific layout (such as FlowLayout or
GridLayout). A container can also hold sub-containers.

In the above figure, there are three containers: a Frame and two Panels. A Frame is the top-level container of an AWT program. A Frame
has a title bar (containing an icon, a title, and the minimize/maximize/close buttons), an optional menu bar and the content display area. A
Panel is a rectangular area used to group related GUI components in a certain layout. In the above figure, the top-level Frame contains
two Panels. There are five components: a Label (providing description), a TextField (for users to enter text), and three Buttons (for user
to trigger certain programmed actions).

In a GUI program, a component must be kept (or added) in a container. You need to identify a container to hold the components. Every
container has a method called add(Component c). A container (say aContainer) can invoke [Link](aComponent) to add
aComponent into itself. For example,

Panel pnl = new Panel(); // Panel is a container

Button btn = new Button("Press"); // Button is a component
[Link](btn); // The Panel container adds a Button component

GUI components are also called controls (e.g., Microsoft ActiveX Control), widgets (e.g., Eclipse's Standard Widget Toolkit, Google Web
Toolkit), which allow users to interact with (or control) the application.

2.3 AWT Container Classes

Top-Level Containers: Frame, Dialog and Applet

Each GUI program has a top-level container. The commonly-used top-level containers in AWT are Frame, Dialog and Applet:

A Frame provides the "main window" for your GUI application. It has a title bar (containing an icon, a title, the minimize,
maximize/restore-down and close buttons), an optional menu bar, and the content display area. To write a GUI program, we typically
start with a subclass extending from [Link] to inherit the main window as follows:
 import [Link]; // Using Frame class in package [Link]

// A GUI program is written as a subclass of Frame - the top-level container

// This subclass inherits all properties from Frame, e.g., title, icon, buttons, content-pane
public class MyGUIProgram extends Frame {

// private variables
......

// Constructor to setup the GUI components and event handlers

public MyGUIProgram() { ...... }

// The entry main() method

public static void main(String[] args) {
// Invoke the constructor (to setup the GUI) by allocating an instance
new MyGUIProgram();
}
}

An AWT Dialog is a "pop-up window" used for interacting with the users. A Dialog
has a title-bar (containing an icon, a title and a close button) and a content display
area, as illustrated.
An AWT Applet (in package [Link]) is the top-level container for an applet,
which is a Java program running inside a browser. Applet is no longer supported in
most of the browsers.

Secondar y Containers: Panel and ScrollPane

Secondary containers are placed inside a top-level container or another secondary container. AWT provides these secondary containers:
Panel: a rectangular box used to layout a set of related GUI components in pattern such as grid or flow.
ScrollPane: provides automatic horizontal and/or vertical scrolling for a single child component.
others.

Hierarchy of the AWT Container Classes

The hierarchy of the AWT Container classes is as follows:

As illustrated, a Container has a LayoutManager to layout the components in a certain pattern, e.g., flow, grid.
2.4 AWT Component Classes
AWT provides many ready-made and reusable GUI components in package [Link]. The frequently-used are: Button, TextField,
Label, Checkbox, CheckboxGroup (radio buttons), List, and Choice, as illustrated below.

AWT GUI Component: [Link]

A [Link] provides a descriptive text string. Take note that
[Link]() prints to the system console, NOT to the graphics
screen. You could use a Label to label another component (such as text field) to
provide a text description.

Check the JDK API specification for [Link].

Constructors

public Label(String strLabel, int alignment); // Construct a Label with the given text String, of the text alignment
public Label(String strLabel); // Construct a Label with the given text String
public Label(); // Construct an initially empty Label

The Label class has three constructors:

1. The first constructor constructs a Label object with the given text string in the given alignment. Note that three static constants
[Link], [Link], and [Link] are defined in the class for you to specify the alignment (rather than asking you to
memorize arbitrary integer values).
2. The second constructor constructs a Label object with the given text string in default of left-aligned.
3. The third constructor constructs a Label object with an initially empty string. You could set the label text via the setText() method
later.

Constants (final static fields)

public static final LEFT; // [Link]

public static final RIGHT; // [Link]
public static final CENTER; // [Link]

These three constants are defined for specifying the alignment of the Label's text, as used in the above constructor.

Public Methods

// Examples
public String getText();
public void setText(String strLabel);
public int getAlignment();
public void setAlignment(int alignment); // [Link], [Link], [Link]

The getText() and setText() methods can be used to read and modify the Label's text. Similarly, the getAlignment() and
setAlignment() methods can be used to retrieve and modify the alignment of the text.

Constructing a Component and Adding the Component into a Container

Three steps are necessary to create and place a GUI component:
1. Declare the component with an identifier (name);
2. Construct the component by invoking an appropriate constructor via the new operator;
3. Identify the container (such as Frame or Panel) designed to hold this component. The container can then add this component onto
itself via [Link](aComponent) method. Every container has a add(Component) method. Take note that it is the container
that actively and explicitly adds a component onto itself, NOT the other way.

Example
 Label lblInput; // Declare an Label instance called lblInput
lblInput = new Label("Enter ID"); // Construct by invoking a constructor via the new operator
add(lblInput); // [Link](lblInput) - "this" is typically a subclass of Frame
[Link]("Enter password"); // Modify the Label's text string
[Link](); // Retrieve the Label's text string

An Anonymous Label Instance

You can create a Label without specifying an identifier, called anonymous instance. In the case, the Java compiler will assign an anonymous
identifier for the allocated object. You will not be able to reference an anonymous instance in your program after it is created. This is
usually alright for a Label instance as there is often no need to reference a Label after it is constructed.

Example

// Allocate an anonymous Label instance.

// "this" container adds the instance.
// You CANNOT reference an anonymous instance to carry out further operations.
add(new Label("Enter Name: ", [Link]));

// Same as
Label xxx = new Label("Enter Name: ", [Link])); // xxx assigned by compiler
add(xxx);

AWT GUI Component: [Link]

A [Link] is a GUI component that triggers a certain programmed
action upon clicking.

Constructors

public Button(String btnLabel);

// Construct a Button with the given label
public Button();
// Construct a Button with empty label

The Button class has two constructors. The first constructor creates a Button object with the given label painted over the button. The
second constructor creates a Button object with no label.

Public Methods

public String getLabel();

// Get the label of this Button instance
public void setLabel(String btnLabel);
// Set the label of this Button instance
public void setEnable(boolean enable);
// Enable or disable this Button. Disabled Button cannot be clicked.

The getLabel() and setLabel() methods can be used to read the current label and modify the label of a button, respectively.

Note: The latest Swing's JButton replaces getLabel()/setLabel() with getText()/setText() to be consistent with all the
components. We will describe Swing later.

Event

Clicking a button fires a so-called ActionEvent and triggers a certain programmed action. I will explain event-handling later.

Example

Button btnColor = new Button("Red"); // Declare and allocate a Button instance called btnColor
add(btnColor); // "this" Container adds the Button
...
[Link]("Green"); // Change the button's label
[Link](); // Read the button's label

AWT GUI Component: [Link]

A [Link] is single-line text box for users to enter texts. (There is a multiple-line text box called TextArea.) Hitting the
"ENTER" key on a TextField object fires an ActionEvent.
Constructors

public TextField(String initialText, int columns);

// Construct a TextField instance with the given initial text string with the number of columns.
public TextField(String initialText);
// Construct a TextField instance with the given initial text string.
public TextField(int columns);
// Construct a TextField instance with the number of columns.

Public Methods

public String getText();

// Get the current text on this TextField instance
public void setText(String strText);
// Set the display text on this TextField instance
public void setEditable(boolean editable);
// Set this TextField to editable (read/write) or non-editable (read-only)

Event

Hitting the "ENTER" key on a TextField fires a ActionEvent, and triggers a certain programmed action.

Example

TextField tfInput = new TextField(30); // Declare and allocate an TextField instance called tfInput
add(tfInput); // "this" Container adds the TextField
TextField tfResult = new TextField(); // Declare and allocate an TextField instance called tfResult
[Link](false) ; // Set to read-only
add(tfResult); // "this" Container adds the TextField
......
// Read an int from TextField "tfInput", square it, and display on "tfResult".
// getText() returns a String, need to convert to int
int number = [Link]([Link]());
number *= number;
// setText() requires a String, need to convert the int number to String.
[Link](number + "");

Take note that getText()/SetText() operates on String. You can convert a String to a primitive, such as int or double via static
method [Link]() or [Link](). To convert a primitive to a String, simply concatenate the primitive with an
empty String.

2.5 Example 1: AWTCounter

Let's assemble a few components together into a
simple GUI counter program, as illustrated. It has a
top-level container Frame, which contains three
components - a Label "Counter", a non-editable
TextField to display the current count, and a "Count"
Button. The TextField shall display count of 0
initially.

Each time you click the button, the counter's value

increases by 1.

1 import [Link].*; // Using AWT container and component classes

2 import [Link].*; // Using AWT event classes and listener interfaces
3
4 // An AWT program inherits from the top-level container [Link]
5 public class AWTCounter extends Frame {
6 private Label lblCount; // Declare a Label component
7 private TextField tfCount; // Declare a TextField component
8 private Button btnCount; // Declare a Button component
9 private int count = 0; // Counter's value
10
11 // Constructor to setup GUI components and event handlers
 12 public AWTCounter () {
13 setLayout(new FlowLayout());
14 // "super" Frame, which is a Container, sets its layout to FlowLayout to arrange
15 // the components from left-to-right, and flow to next row from top-to-bottom.
16
17 lblCount = new Label("Counter"); // construct the Label component
18 add(lblCount); // "super" Frame container adds Label component
19
20 tfCount = new TextField(count + "", 10); // construct the TextField component with initial text
21 [Link](false); // set to read-only
22 add(tfCount); // "super" Frame container adds TextField component
23
24 btnCount = new Button("Count"); // construct the Button component
25 add(btnCount); // "super" Frame container adds Button component
26
27 [Link](new BtnCountListener()); // anonymous instance
28 // same as
29 //BtnCountListener listener = new BtnCountListener();
30 //[Link](listener);
31 // "btnCount" is the source object that fires an ActionEvent when clicked.
32 // The source object adds an instance of BtnCountListener as an ActionEvent listener,
33 // which provides an ActionEvent handler called actionPerformed().
34 // Clicking "Count" button calls back actionPerformed().
35
36 setTitle("AWT Counter"); // "super" Frame sets its title
37 setSize(300, 100); // "super" Frame sets its initial window size
38
39 // For inspecting the Container/Components objects
40 // [Link](this);
41 // [Link](lblCount);
42 // [Link](tfCount);
43 // [Link](btnCount);
44 setVisible(true); // "super" Frame shows
45 // [Link](this);
46 // [Link](lblCount);
47 // [Link](tfCount);
48 // [Link](btnCount);
49 }
50
51 // The entry main() method
52 public static void main(String[] args) {
53 // Invoke the constructor to setup the GUI, by allocating an instance
54 AWTCounter app = new AWTCounter();
55 // or simply "new AWTCounter();" for an anonymous instance
56 }
57
58 // Define an inner class to handle the "Count" button-click
59 private class BtnCountListener implements ActionListener {
60 // ActionEvent handler - Called back upon button-click.
61 @Override
62 public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
63 ++count; // Increase the counter value
64 // Display the counter value on the TextField tfCount
65 [Link](count + ""); // Convert int to String
66 }
67 }
68 }

To exit this program, you have to close the CMD-shell (or press "control-c" on the CMD console); or push the "red" close button in Eclipse's
Application Console. This is because we have yet to write the handler for the Frame's close button. We shall do that in the later example.

Dissecting the [Link]

The import statements (Lines 1-2) are needed, as AWT container and component classes, such as Frame, Button, TextField, and
Label, are kept in the [Link] package; while AWT events and event-listener interfaces, such as ActionEvent and
ActionListener are kept in the [Link] package.
A GUI program needs a top-level container, and is often written as a subclass of Frame (Line 5). In other words, this class AWTCounter
is a Frame, and inherits all the attributes and behaviors of a Frame, such as the title bar and content pane.

Lines 11 to 47 define a constructor, which is used to setup the GUI components and event handlers.
 In Line 13, the setLayout() (inherited from the superclass Frame) is used to set the layout of the container. FlowLayout is used which
arranges the components in left-to-right and flows into next row in a top-to-bottom manner.
A Label, TextField (non-editable), and Button are constructed. We invoke the add() method (inherited from the superclass Frame)
to add these components into container.
In Line 36-37, we invoke the setSize() and the setTitle() (inherited from the superclass Frame) to set the initial size and the title
of the Frame. The setVisible(true) method (Line 42) is then invoked to show the display.

Line 27 (or Line 29-30) is used to setup the callback event-handler, which will be discussed in length later. In brief, whenever the button
is clicked, the actionPerformed() will be called. In the actionPerformed() (Lines 61-66), the counter value increases by 1 and
displayed on the TextField.
In the entry main() method (Lines 52-56), an instance of AWTCounter is constructed. The constructor is executed to initialize the GUI
components and setup the event-handlers. The GUI program then waits for the user action.

Inspecting Container/Components via toString()

It is interesting to inspect the GUI objects via the toString(), to gain an insight to these classes. (Alternatively, use a graphic debugger in
Eclipse/NetBeans or study the JDK source code.) For example, if we insert the following code before and after the setVisible():

[Link](this);
//AWTCounter[frame0,93,0,300x100,invalid,hidden,layout=[Link],title=AWT Counter,resizable,normal]
// name (assigned by compiler) is "frame0"; top-left (x,y) at (93,0); width/height is 300x100 (via setSize());
[Link](lblCount);
//[Link][label0,0,0,0x0,invalid,align=left,text=Counter]
// name is "Label0"; align is "[Link]" (default); text is "Counter" (assigned in constructor)
[Link](tfCount);
//[Link][textfield0,0,0,0x0,invalid,text=0,selection=0-0]
// name is "Textfield0"; text is "0" (assigned in constructor)
[Link](btnCount);
//[Link][button0,0,0,0x0,invalid,label=Count]
// name is "button0"; label text is "Count" (assigned in constructor)

setVisible(true); // "super" Frame shows

[Link](this);
//AWTCounter[frame0,93,0,300x100,invalid,layout=[Link],title=AWT Counter,resizable,normal]
[Link](lblCount);
//[Link][label0,31,35,57x23,align=left,text=Counter]
[Link](tfCount);
//[Link][textfield0,93,35,124x23,text=0,selection=0-0]
[Link](btnCount);
//[Link][button0,222,35,46x23,label=Count]

2.6 Example 2: AWTAccumulator

In this example, the top-level
container is again the typical
[Link]. It contains 4
components: a Label "Enter an
Integer", a TextField for
accepting user input, another
Label "The Accumulated Sum
is", and another non-editable
TextField for displaying the
sum. The components are
arranged in GridLayout of 2
rows 2 columns.

The program shall accumulate

the number entered into the input TextField and display the sum in the output TextField.

1 import [Link].*; // Using AWT container and component classes

2 import [Link].*; // Using AWT event classes and listener interfaces
3
4 // An AWT GUI program inherits (customized) from the top-level container
5 // [Link]
6 public class AWTAccumulator extends Frame {
7 //private Label lblInput; // Declare input Label (to use anonymous)
8 //private Label lblOutput; // Declare output Label (to use anonymous)
9 private TextField tfInput; // Declare input TextField
10 private TextField tfOutput; // Declare output TextField
 11 private int sum = 0; // Accumulated sum, init to 0
12
13 // Constructor to setup the GUI components and event handlers
14 public AWTAccumulator() {
15 setLayout(new GridLayout(2, 2));
16 // "super" Frame (Container) sets layout to GridLayout of 2 rows 2 columns.
17
18 add(new Label("Enter an Integer: ")); // "super" Frame adds an anonymous Label
19
20 tfInput = new TextField(10); // Construct TextField
21 add(tfInput); // "super" Frame adds TextField
22
23 [Link](new TFInputListener()); // anonymous instance
24 // "tfInput" is the source object that fires an ActionEvent upon entered.
25 // The source add an anonymous instance of TFInputListener as an ActionEvent
26 // listener, which provides an ActionEvent handler called actionPerformed().
27 // Hitting "enter" on tfInput invokes actionPerformed().
28
29 add(new Label("The Accumulated Sum is: ")); // "super" Frame adds an anonymous Label
30
31 tfOutput = new TextField(10); // allocate TextField
32 [Link](false); // read-only
33 add(tfOutput); // "super" Frame adds TextField
34
35 setTitle("AWT Accumulator"); // "super" Frame sets title
36 setSize(350, 120); // "super" Frame sets initial window size
37 setVisible(true); // "super" Frame shows
38 }
39
40 // The entry main() method
41 public static void main(String[] args) {
42 // Invoke the constructor to setup the GUI, by allocating an anonymous instance
43 new AWTAccumulator();
44 }
45
46 // Define an inner class to handle the input TextField.
47 // An ActionEvent listener must implement ActionListener interface.
48 private class TFInputListener implements ActionListener {
49 // ActionEvent handler - Called back upon hitting "enter" key on TextField
50 @Override
51 public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
52 // Get the String entered into the TextField tfInput, convert to int
53 int numberIn = [Link]([Link]());
54 sum += numberIn; // Accumulate numbers entered into sum
55 [Link](""); // Clear input TextField
56 [Link](sum + ""); // Display sum on the output TextField
57 // convert int to String
58 }
59 }
60 }

Dissecting the [Link]

1. An AWT GUI program extends from [Link] (Line 6) - the top-level window container.

2. In the constructor (Line 14), we constructs 4 components - 2 anonymous [Link] and 2 [Link]. The Frame
adds the components, in GridLayout.
3. tfInput (TextField) is the source object, which fires an ActionEvent upon hitting the Enter key. tfInput adds an anonymous
instance of TFInputListener as an ActionEvent handler (Line 23). The listener class needs to implement ActionListener
interface and provides implementation to method actionPerformed(). Whenever an user hits Enter on the tfInput (TextField),
the actionPerformed() will be called back.

3. AWT Event-Handling
Java adopts the so-called "Event-Driven" (or "Event-Delegation") programming model for event-handling, similar to most of the visual
programming languages like Visual Basic.

In event-driven programming, a piece of event-handling codes is executed (or called back by the graphics subsystem) when an event was
fired in response to an user input (such as clicking a mouse button or hitting the ENTER key in a text field).
Callback Methods
In the above examples, the method actionPerformed() is known as a callback method. In other words, you never invoke
actionPerformed() in your codes explicitly. The actionPerformed() is called back by the graphics subsystem under certain
circumstances in response to certain user actions.

JavaScript can attach a Callback method to an Event Directly

In some languages, you can directly attach a method (or function) to an event (such as mouse-click). For example, the following JavaScript
code (called [Link]) implement a counter similar to the AWTCounter, with a text label, text field and button:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<title>JavaScript Counter</title></head>
<body>
<form>
Count: <input id="tfCount" type="text" value="0">
<input id="btnCount" type="button" value="Hello"
>
</form>
<script>
function myBtnOnClick() { [Link]++; }
function myBtnMouseOver() { [Link] = "Count Up"; }
function myBtnMouseOut() { [Link] = "Click Me"; }
[Link] = myBtnMouseOut; // assign a function to a variable
</script>
</body>
</html>

In Java, we CANNOT attach a method to a source object directly, as method is not a first-class object in Java. For example, a Java method
cannot accept methods as its arguments and it cannot return a method; you cannot assign a method to a variable, etc. (JavaScript and C
language CAN!).

Source, Event and Listener Objects

The AWT's event-handling classes are kept in package [Link].

Three kinds of objects are involved in the event-handling: a source, listener(s) and an event object.

The source object (such as Button and Textfield) interacts with the user. Upon triggered, the source object creates an event object to
capture the action (e.g., mouse-click x and y, texts entered, etc). This event object will be messaged to all the registered listener object(s),
and an appropriate event-handler method of the listener(s) is called-back to provide the response. In other words, triggering a source fires
an event to all its listener(s), and invoke an appropriate event handler of the listener(s).

To express interest for a certain source's event, the listener(s) must be registered with the source. In other words, the listener(s) "subscribes"
to a source's event, and the source "publishes" the event to all its subscribers upon activation. This is known as subscribe-publish or
observable-observer design pattern.
The sequence of steps is illustrated above:
1. The source object registers its listener(s) for a certain type of event.

A source fires an event when triggered. For example, clicking a Button fires an ActionEvent, clicking a mouse button fires
MouseEvent, typing a key fires KeyEvent, and etc.

How the source and listener understand each other? The answer is via an agreed-upon interface. For example, if a source is capable
of firing an event called XxxEvent (e.g., ActionEvent). Firstly, we need to declare an interface called XxxListener (e.g.,
ActionListener) containing the names of the handler methods (recall that an interface contains only abstract methods without
implementation). For example, the ActionListener interface is declared as follows:

// An ActionListener interface, which declares the signature of the handlers

public interface ActionListener {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt);
}

Secondly, all XxxEvent listeners must implement the XxxListener interface. That is, the listeners must provide their own
implementations (i.e., programmed responses) to all the abstract methods declared in the XxxListener interface. In this way, the
listener(s) can response to these events appropriately. For example,

// An example of MouseListener, which provides implementation to the event handler methods

class MyActionListener implement ActionListener {
@Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
[Link]("ActionEvent detected!");
}
}

Thirdly, in the source, we need to maintain a list of XxxEvent listener object(s), and define two methods: addXxxListener() and
removeXxxListener() to add and remove a XxxEvent listener from this list. For the ActionEvent, the signature of the methods
are:

public void addActionListener(ActionListener lis);

public void removeActionListener(ActionListener lis);

Take note that the addXxxListener() takes a XxxListener object as its sole parameter. In other words, it can only add objects of
the type XxxListener, and its sub-type. Since XxxListener is an interface, you cannot create instance of XxxListener, but need
to create instance of a subclass implementing the XxxListener interface.

In summary, we identify the source, the event-listener interface, and the listener object. The listener must implement the event-
listener interface. The source object then registers listener object via the addXxxListener(XxxListener lis) method.
2. The source is triggered by a user.
3. The source create a XxxEvent object, which encapsulates the necessary information about the activation. For example, the (x, y)
position of the mouse pointer, the text entered, etc.
 4. Finally, for each of the XxxEvent listeners in the listener list, the source invokes the appropriate handler on the listener(s), which
provides the programmed response.

In summary, triggering a source fires an event to all its registered listeners, and invoke an appropriate handler of the listener.

3.1 Revisit Example 1 AWTCounter: ActionEvent and ActionListener Interface

Clicking a Button (or hitting the "Enter" key on a TextField) fires an ActionEvent to all its ActionEvent listener(s). An ActionEvent
listener must implement the ActionListener interface, which declares one abstract method called actionPerformed() as follow:

public interface ActionListener {

public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt);
// Called back upon button-click (on Button), enter-key pressed (on TextField)
}

Here are the event-handling steps:

We identify btnCount (of Button) as the source object.
Clicking Button fires an ActionEvent to all its ActionEvent listener(s).

The listener(s) is required to implement ActionListener interface, and override the actionPerformed() method to provide the
response. In Line 56-65, we write an inner class called BtnCountListener, which override the actionPerformed() to increment and
display the count. An inner class is a class defined inside an outer class, and it can access the private entities of the outer class. We will
elaborate on the inner class in the next section.
The source object registers listener via the addActionListener(). In this example, the source btnCount (Button) adds an instance of
BtnCountListener as a listener via:

BtnCountListener listener = new BtnCountListener();

[Link](listener);

Note that addActionListener() takes an argument of the type ActionListener. BtnCountListener, which implements
ActionListener interface (i.e., a subclass of ActionListener), is upcasted and passed to the addActionListener() method.
Upon button-click, the btnCount creates an ActionEvent object, and calls back the actionPerformed(ActionEvent) method of all
its registered listener(s) with the ActionEvent object created:

ActionEvent evt = new ActionEvent( ...... );

[Link](evt); // for all its listener(s)

The sequence diagram is as follows:

3.2 Revisit Example 2 AWTAccumulator: ActionEvent and ActionListener Interface
In this example,
1. We identify the tfInput (of TextField) as the source object.
2. Hitting the "Enter" key on a TextField fires an ActionEvent to all its ActionEvent listener(s).

3. In Line 46-59, we define an inner class called TFInputListener as the ActionEvent [Link] ActionEvent listener is required to
implement the ActionListener interface, and override the actionPerformed() method to provide the programmed response
upon activation.
4. The source object tfInput (of TextField) registers an anonymous instance of TFInputListener as its ActionEvent listener via
the [Link](new TFInputListener()) (Line 23).

3.3 Example 3: WindowEvent and WindowListener Interface

A WindowEvent is fired
(to all its WindowEvent
listeners) when a
window (e.g., Frame)
has been
opened/closed,
activated/deactivated,
iconified/deiconified
via the 3 buttons at the
top-right corner or
other means. The
source of
WindowEvent shall be
a top-level window-
container such as
Frame.

A WindowEvent listener must implement WindowListener interface, which declares 7 abstract event-handling methods, as follows.
Among them, the windowClosing(), which is called back upon clicking the window-close button, is the most commonly-used.

public void windowClosing(WindowEvent evt)

// Called-back when the user attempts to close the window by clicking the window close button.
// This is the most-frequently used handler.
public void windowOpened(WindowEvent evt)
// Called-back the first time a window is made visible.
public void windowClosed(WindowEvent evt)
// Called-back when a window has been closed as the result of calling dispose on the window.
public void windowActivated(WindowEvent evt)
// Called-back when the Window is set to be the active Window.
public void windowDeactivated(WindowEvent evt)
// Called-back when a Window is no longer the active Window.
public void windowIconified(WindowEvent evt)
// Called-back when a window is changed from a normal to a minimized state.
 public void windowDeiconified(WindowEvent evt)
// Called-back when a window is changed from a minimized to a normal state.

The following program added support for "close-window button" to "Example 1: AWTCounter".

1 import [Link].*; // Using AWT containers and components

2 import [Link].*; // Using AWT events classes and listener interfaces
3
4 // An AWT GUI program inherits the top-level container [Link]
5 public class WindowEventDemo extends Frame {
6
7 private TextField tfCount; // Declare a TextField component
8 private Button btnCount; // Declare a Button component
9 private int count = 0; // Counter's value
10
11 // Constructor to setup the GUI components and event handlers
12 public WindowEventDemo() {
13 setLayout(new FlowLayout()); // "super" Frame sets to FlowLayout
14
15 add(new Label("Counter")); // "super" Frame adds an anonymous Label
16
17 tfCount = new TextField("0", 10); // Construct the TextField
18 [Link](false); // read-only
19 add(tfCount); // "super" Frame adds TextField
20
21 btnCount = new Button("Count"); // Construct the Button
22 add(btnCount); // "super" Frame adds Button
23
24 [Link](new BtnCountListener());
25 // btnCount (source object) fires ActionEvent upon clicking
26 // btnCount adds an anonymous instance of BtnCountListener
27 // as an ActionEvent listener
28
29 addWindowListener(new MyWindowListener());
30 // "super" Frame (source object) fires WindowEvent.
31 // "super" Frame adds an anonymous instance of MyWindowListener
32 // as a WindowEvent listener.
33
34 setTitle("WindowEvent Demo"); // "super" Frame sets title
35 setSize(300, 100); // "super" Frame sets initial size
36 setVisible(true); // "super" Frame shows
37 }
38
39 // The entry main() method
40 public static void main(String[] args) {
41 new WindowEventDemo(); // Let the construct do the job
42 }
43
44 // Define an inner class to handle ActionEvent of btnCount
45 private class BtnCountListener implements ActionListener {
46 @Override
47 public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
48 ++count;
49 [Link](count + "");
50 }
51 }
52
53 // Define an inner class to handle WindowEvent of this Frame
54 private class MyWindowListener implements WindowListener {
55 // Called back upon clicking close-window button
56 @Override
57 public void windowClosing(WindowEvent evt) {
58 [Link](0); // Terminate the program
59 }
60
61 // Not Used, BUT need to provide an empty body to compile.
62 @Override public void windowOpened(WindowEvent evt) { }
63 @Override public void windowClosed(WindowEvent evt) { }
64 // For Debugging
65 @Override public void windowIconified(WindowEvent evt) { [Link]("Window Iconified"); }
66 @Override public void windowDeiconified(WindowEvent evt) { [Link]("Window Deiconified"); }
67 @Override public void windowActivated(WindowEvent evt) { [Link]("Window Activated"); }
 68 @Override public void windowDeactivated(WindowEvent evt) { [Link]("Window Deactivated"); }
69 }
70 }

In this example, we shall modify the earlier AWTCounter example to handle the WindowEvent. Recall that pushing the "close-window"
button on the AWTCounter has no effect, as it did not handle the WindowEvent of windowClosing(). We included the WindowEvent
handling codes in this example.
1. We identify the super Frame as the source object.
2. The Frame fires the WindowEvent to all its registered WindowEvent listener(s).
3. In Line 53-69, we define an inner class called MyWindowListener as the WindowEvent listener. It is required to implement the
WindowListener interface, which declares 7 abstract methods: windowOpened(), windowClosed(), windowClosing(),
windowActivated(), windowDeactivated(), windowIconified() and windowDeiconified().
4. We register an anonymous instance of MyWindowListener as the WindowEvent listener to the source Frame via method
addWindowListener(new MyWindowListener()).
5. We override the windowClosing() handler to terminate the program using [Link](0). We ignore the other 6 handlers, but
required to provide an empty body for compilation.

The sequence diagram is as follow:

3.4 Example 4: MouseEvent and MouseListener Interface

A MouseEvent is fired when you press, release, or click (press followed by release) a mouse-button (left or right button) at the source
object; or position the mouse-pointer at (enter) and away (exit) from the source object.

A MouseEvent listener must implement the MouseListener interface, which declares the following five abstract methods:

public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent evt)

// Called-back when the mouse-button has been clicked (pressed followed by released) on the source.
public void mousePressed(MouseEvent evt)
public void mouseReleased(MouseEvent evt)
// Called-back when a mouse-button has been pressed/released on the source.
// A mouse-click invokes mousePressed(), mouseReleased() and mouseClicked().
public void mouseEntered(MouseEvent evt)
public void mouseExited(MouseEvent evt)
// Called-back when the mouse-pointer has entered/exited the source.

1 import [Link].*;
2 import [Link].*;
3
4 public class MouseEventDemo extends Frame {
 5 private TextField tfMouseX; // to display mouse-click-x
6 private TextField tfMouseY; // to display mouse-click-y
7
8 // Constructor - Setup the UI components and event handlers
9 public MouseEventDemo() {
10 setLayout(new FlowLayout()); // "super" frame sets its layout to FlowLayout
11
12 // Label (anonymous)
13 add(new Label("X-Click: ")); // "super" frame adds Label component
14
15 // TextField
16 tfMouseX = new TextField(10); // 10 columns
17 [Link](false); // read-only
18 add(tfMouseX); // "super" frame adds TextField component
19
20 // Label (anonymous)
21 add(new Label("Y-Click: ")); // "super" frame adds Label component
22
23 // TextField
24 tfMouseY = new TextField(10);
25 [Link](false); // read-only
26 add(tfMouseY); // "super" frame adds TextField component
27
28 addMouseListener(new MyMouseListener());
29 // "super" frame (source) fires the MouseEvent.
30 // "super" frame adds an anonymous instance of MyMouseListener
31 // as a MouseEvent listener.
32
33 setTitle("MouseEvent Demo"); // "super" Frame sets title
34 setSize(350, 100); // "super" Frame sets initial size
35 setVisible(true); // "super" Frame shows
36 }
37
38 public static void main(String[] args) {
39 new MouseEventDemo(); // Let the constructor do the job
40 }
41
42 // Define an inner class to handle MouseEvent
43 private class MyMouseListener implements MouseListener {
44 // Called back upon mouse clicked
45 @Override
46 public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent evt) {
47 [Link]([Link]() + "");
48 [Link]([Link]() + "");
49 }
50
51 // Not used - need to provide an empty body to compile.
52 @Override public void mousePressed(MouseEvent evt) { }
53 @Override public void mouseReleased(MouseEvent evt) { }
54 @Override public void mouseEntered(MouseEvent evt) { }
55 @Override public void mouseExited(MouseEvent evt) { }
56 }
57 }

In this example, we setup a GUI with 4 components (two anonymous Labels and two non-editable TextFields) inside a top-level
container Frame, arranged in FlowLayout.

To demonstrate the MouseEvent:

1. We identity super Frame as the source object.

2. The Frame fires a MouseEvent to all its MouseEvent listener(s) when you click/press/release a mouse-button or enter/exit with the
mouse-pointer.
3. In Line 42-56, we define an inner class called MyMouseListener as the MouseEvent listener. It is required to implement the
MouseListener interface, which declares 5 abstract methods: mouseClicked(), mousePressed(), mouseReleased(),
mouseEntered(), and mouseExit(). We override the mouseClicked() to display the (x, y) coordinates of the mouse click on the
two displayed TextFields. We ignore all the other handlers (for simplicity - but you need to provide an empty body for
compilation).
4. We register an anonymous instance of MyMouseListener as the MouseEvent listener to super Frame (source) via the method
addMouseListener(new MyMouseListener()).
Tr y: Include a WindowListener to handle the close-window button.

3.5 Example 5: MouseEvent and MouseMotionListener Interface

A MouseEvent is also fired when you move and drag the mouse pointer at the source object. But you need to use MouseMotionListener
to handle the mouse-move and mouse-drag. The MouseMotionListener interface declares the following two abstract methods:

public void mouseDragged(MouseEvent e)

// Called-back when a mouse-button is pressed on the source component and then dragged.
public void mouseMoved(MouseEvent e)
// Called-back when the mouse-pointer has been moved onto the source component but no buttons have been pushed.

1 import [Link].*;
2 import [Link].*;
3
4 // An AWT GUI program inherits from the top-level container [Link]
5 public class MouseMotionDemo extends Frame {
6
7 // To display the (x, y) of the mouse-clicked
8 private TextField tfMouseClickX;
9 private TextField tfMouseClickY;
10 // To display the (x, y) of the current mouse-pointer position
11 private TextField tfMousePositionX;
12 private TextField tfMousePositionY;
13
14 // Constructor to setup the GUI components and event handlers
15 public MouseMotionDemo() {
16 setLayout(new FlowLayout()); // "super" frame sets to FlowLayout
17
18 add(new Label("X-Click: "));
19 tfMouseClickX = new TextField(10);
20 [Link](false);
21 add(tfMouseClickX);
22 add(new Label("Y-Click: "));
23 tfMouseClickY = new TextField(10);
24 [Link](false);
25 add(tfMouseClickY);
26
27 add(new Label("X-Position: "));
28 tfMousePositionX = new TextField(10);
29 [Link](false);
30 add(tfMousePositionX);
31 add(new Label("Y-Position: "));
32 tfMousePositionY = new TextField(10);
33 [Link](false);
34 add(tfMousePositionY);
35
36 MyMouseListener listener = new MyMouseListener();
37 addMouseListener(listener);
38 addMouseMotionListener(listener);
39 // "super" frame (source) fires MouseEvent.
40 // "super" frame adds an instance of MyMouseListener
41 // as MouseListener and MouseMotionListener.
42
43 setTitle("MouseMotion Demo"); // "super" Frame sets title
44 setSize(400, 120); // "super" Frame sets initial size
45 setVisible(true); // "super" Frame shows
46 }
47
48 // The entry main() method
49 public static void main(String[] args) {
50 new MouseMotionDemo(); // Let the constructor do the job
51 }
52
 53 // Define an inner class as both the MouseListener and MouseMotionListener
54 // A Java class can extend one superclass but implement many interfaces
55 private class MyMouseListener implements MouseListener, MouseMotionListener {
56 /* MouseListener handlers */
57 // Called back when a mouse-button has been clicked
58 @Override
59 public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent evt) {
60 [Link]([Link]() + "");
61 [Link]([Link]() + "");
62 }
63
64 // Not Used, but need to provide an empty body for compilation
65 @Override public void mousePressed(MouseEvent evt) { }
66 @Override public void mouseReleased(MouseEvent evt) { }
67 @Override public void mouseEntered(MouseEvent evt) { }
68 @Override public void mouseExited(MouseEvent evt) { }
69
70 /* MouseMotionEvent handlers */
71 // Called back when the mouse-pointer has been moved
72 @Override
73 public void mouseMoved(MouseEvent evt) {
74 [Link]([Link]() + "");
75 [Link]([Link]() + "");
76 }
77
78 // Not Used, but need to provide an empty body for compilation
79 @Override public void mouseDragged(MouseEvent evt) { }
80 }
81 }

In this example, we shall illustrate both the MouseListener and MouseMotionListener.

1. We identify the super Frame as the source, which fires the MouseEvent to its registered MouseListener and
MouseMotionListener.
2. In Line 53-80, we define an inner class called MyMouseListener as both the MouseListener and MouseMotionListener.

3. We register an instance of MyMouseListener as the listener to super Frame via method addMouseListener() and
addMouseMotionListener().
4. The MouseMotionListener needs to implement 2 abstract methods: mouseMoved() and mouseDragged() declared in the
MouseMotionListener interface.
5. We override the mouseMoved() to display the (x, y) position of the mouse pointer. We ignore the MouseDragged() handler by
providing an empty body for compilation.

Tr y: Include a WindowListener to handle the close-window button.

3.6 Example 6: KeyEvent and KeyListener Interface

A KeyEvent is fired when you pressed, released, and typed (pressed followed by released) a key on the source object. A KeyEvent listener
must implement KeyListener interface, which declares three abstract methods:

public void keyTyped(KeyEvent e)

// Called-back when a key has been typed (pressed and released).
public void keyPressed(KeyEvent e)
public void keyReleased(KeyEvent e)
// Called-back when a key has been pressed or released.
 1 import [Link].*;
2 import [Link].*;
3
4 // An AWT GUI program inherits from the top-level container [Link]
5 public class KeyEventDemo extends Frame {
6
7 private TextField tfInput; // Single-line TextField to receive tfInput key
8 private TextArea taDisplay; // Multi-line TextArea to taDisplay result
9
10 // Constructor to setup the GUI components and event handlers
11 public KeyEventDemo() {
12 setLayout(new FlowLayout()); // "super" frame sets to FlowLayout
13
14 add(new Label("Enter Text: "));
15 tfInput = new TextField(10);
16 add(tfInput);
17 taDisplay = new TextArea(5, 40); // 5 rows, 40 columns
18 add(taDisplay);
19
20 [Link](new MyKeyListener());
21 // tfInput TextField (source) fires KeyEvent.
22 // tfInput adds an anonymous instance of MyKeyListener
23 // as a KeyEvent listener.
24
25 setTitle("KeyEvent Demo"); // "super" Frame sets title
26 setSize(400, 200); // "super" Frame sets initial size
27 setVisible(true); // "super" Frame shows
28 }
29
30 // The entry main() method
31 public static void main(String[] args) {
32 new KeyEventDemo(); // Let the constructor do the job
33 }
34
35 // Define an inner class to handle KeyEvent
36 private class MyKeyListener implements KeyListener {
37 // Called back when a key has been typed (pressed and released)
38 @Override
39 public void keyTyped(KeyEvent evt) {
40 [Link]("You have typed " + [Link]() + "\n");
41 }
42
43 // Not Used, but need to provide an empty body for compilation
44 @Override public void keyPressed(KeyEvent evt) { }
45 @Override public void keyReleased(KeyEvent evt) { }
46 }
47 }

In this example:
1. We identify the tfInput (of TextField) as the source object.
2. The source fires a KeyEvent when you press/release/type a key to all its KeyEvent listener(s).
3. In Line 35-46, we define an inner class called MyKeyListener as the KeyEvent listener.

4. We register an anonymous instance of MyKeyListener as the KeyEvent listener to the source TextField via method
[Link]().
5. The KeyEvent listener needs to implement the KeyListener interface, which declares 3 abstract methods: keyTyped(),
keyPressed(), keyReleased().

6. We override the keyTyped() to display key typed on the display TextArea. We ignore the keyPressed() and keyReleased().

4. Nested (Inner) Classes

4.1 Without Inner classes

In our AWTCounter example, suppose we would like to write an external ordinary class (say MyExternalBtnListener) as our
ActionEvent listener. This class shall implement ActionListener interface and override the actionPerformed() method. An example is
as follows:
 import [Link].*; // Using AWT container and component classes
import [Link].*; // Using AWT event classes and listener interfaces

// An AWT program inherits from the top-level container [Link]

public class AWTCounterExternal extends Frame {
private Label lblCount; // Declare a Label component
private TextField tfCount; // Declare a TextField component
private Button btnCount; // Declare a Button component
private int count = 0; // Counter's value

// Constructor to setup GUI components and event handlers

public AWTCounterExternal () {
setLayout(new FlowLayout());
// "super" Frame, which is a Container, sets its layout to FlowLayout to arrange
// the components from left-to-right, and flow to next row from top-to-bottom.

lblCount = new Label("Counter"); // construct the Label component

add(lblCount); // "super" Frame container adds Label component

tfCount = new TextField(count + "", 10); // construct the TextField component with initial text
[Link](false); // set to read-only
add(tfCount); // "super" Frame container adds TextField component

btnCount = new Button("Count"); // construct the Button component

add(btnCount); // "super" Frame container adds Button component

MyExternalBtnListener listener = new MyExternalBtnListener();

[Link](listener);
// "btnCount" is the source object that fires an ActionEvent when clicked.
// The source add an instance of MyExternalBtnListener as an ActionEvent listener,
// which provides an ActionEvent handler called actionPerformed().
// Clicking "btnCount" invokes actionPerformed().

setTitle("AWT Counter"); // "super" Frame sets its title

setSize(250, 100); // "super" Frame sets its initial window size

// For inspecting the Container/Components objects

// [Link](this);
// [Link](lblCount);
// [Link](tfCount);
// [Link](btnCount);
setVisible(true); // "super" Frame shows
// [Link](this);
// [Link](lblCount);
// [Link](tfCount);
// [Link](btnCount);
}

// The entry main() method

public static void main(String[] args) {
// Invoke the constructor to setup the GUI, by allocating an instance
AWTCounterExternal app = new AWTCounterExternal();
// or simply "new AWTCounter();" for an anonymous instance
}
}

// We write an external class as the Button's ActionEvent listener.

// This class must implement ActionListener interface and override
// the actionPerformed() method.
class MyExternalBtnListener implements ActionListener {
// ActionEvent handler - Called back upon button-click.
@Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
[Link]("You clicked the button!");

// Cannot access variables count and tfCount!!!

// ++count; // Increase the counter value
// [Link](count + ""); // Convert int to String
}
}

Can you see the problem? This external class cannot access the variables such as count and tfCount in the AWTCounterExternal class.
We can fix this problem, but the solution is messy. An easy solution is to use an inner class instead of an ordinary external class (to be
explained in the following sections).
4.2 What are Inner classes?
A nested class (or commonly called inner class) is a class defined inside another class - introduced in JDK 1.1. As an illustration, two nested
classes MyNestedClass1 and MyNestedClass2 are defined inside the definition of an outer class called MyOuterClass.

public class MyOuterClass { // outer class defined here

......
private class MyNestedClass1 { ...... } // an nested class defined inside the outer class
public static class MyNestedClass2 { ...... } // an "static" nested class defined inside the outer class
......
}

A nested class has these properties:

1. A nested class is a proper class. That is, it could contain constructors, member variables and member methods. You can create an
instance of a nested class via the new operator and constructor.
2. A nested class is a member of the outer class, just like any member variables and methods defined inside a class.
3. Most importantly, a nested class can access the private members (variables/methods) of the enclosing outer class, as it is at the
same level as these private members. This is the property that makes inner class useful.
4. A nested class can have private, public, protected, or the default access, just like any member variables and methods defined
inside a class. A private inner class is only accessible by the enclosing outer class, and is not accessible by any other classes. [An
top-level outer class cannot be declared private, as no one can use a private outer class.]
5. A nested class can also be declared static, final or abstract, just like any ordinary class.
6. A nested class is NOT a subclass of the outer class. That is, the nested class does not inherit the variables and methods of the outer
class. It is an ordinary self-contained class. [Nonetheless, you could declare it as a subclass of the outer class, via keyword "extends
OuterClassName", in the nested class's definition.]

The usages of nested class are:

1. To control visibilities (of the member variables and methods) between inner/outer class. The nested class, being defined inside an
outer class, can access private members of the outer class.
2. To place a piece of class definition codes closer to where it is going to be used, to make the program clearer and easier to
understand.
3. For namespace management.

4.3 Example 7: A Named Inner Class as Event Listener (Revisit Example 1 AWTCounter)
A nested class is useful if you need a small class which relies on the enclosing outer class for its private variables and methods. It is ideal in
an event-driven environment for implementing event handlers. This is because the event handling methods (in a listener) often require
access to the private variables (e.g., a private TextField) of the outer class.

In this example (revisit Example 1 AWTCounter), we define an inner class called BtnCountListener, and create an instance of
BtnCountListener as the ActionEvent listener for the btnCount. The BtnCountListener needs to implement the ActionListener
interface, and override the actionPerformed() handler. BtnCountListener needs to be defined as an inner class, as it needs to access
private variables (count and tfCount) of the outer class.

1 import [Link].*;
2 import [Link].*;
3
4 // An AWT GUI program inherits from the top-level container [Link]
5 public class AWTCounter extends Frame {
6
7 // The event-handler actionPerformed() needs to access these "private" variables
8 private TextField tfCount;
9 private Button btnCount;
10 private int count = 0;
11
12 // Constructor to setup the GUI components and event handlers
13 public AWTCounter() {
14 setLayout(new FlowLayout()); // "super" Frame sets to FlowLayout
15 add(new Label("Counter")); // An anonymous instance of Label
16 tfCount = new TextField("0", 10);
17 [Link](false); // read-only
18 add(tfCount); // "super" Frame adds tfCount
19
20 btnCount = new Button("Count");
21 add(btnCount); // "super" Frame adds btnCount
22
 23 // Construct an anonymous instance of BtnCountListener (a named inner class).
24 // btnCount adds this instance as a ActionListener.
25 [Link](new BtnCountListener());
26
27 setTitle("AWT Counter");
28 setSize(250, 100);
29 setVisible(true);
30 }
31
32 // The entry main method
33 public static void main(String[] args) {
34 new AWTCounter(); // Let the constructor do the job
35 }
36
37 /**
38 * BtnCountListener is a "named inner class" used as ActionListener.
39 * This inner class can access private variables of the outer class.
40 */
41 private class BtnCountListener implements ActionListener {
42 @Override
43 public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
44 ++count;
45 [Link](count + "");
46 }
47 }
48 }

Dissecting the Program

An inner class named BtnCountListener is used as the ActionListener.
An anonymous instance of the BtnCountListener inner class is constructed. The btnCount source object adds this instance as a
listener, as follows:

[Link](new BtnCountListener());

The inner class can access the private variable tfCount and count of the outer class.
The inner class is compiled into AWTCount$[Link], in the format of OuterClassName$[Link].

(Advanced) Using an Ordinar y (Outer) Class as Listener

Try moving the BtnCountListener class outside, and define it as an ordinary class. You would need to pass a reference of the AWTCounter
into the constructor of BtnCountListener, and use this reference to access variables tfCount and count, through public getters or
granting them to public access.

// An ordinary outer class used as ActionListener for the Button

public class BtnCountListener implements ActionListener {
// private variable
AWTCounter frame;

// The constructor takes the AWT Frame as its argument

public BtnCountListener(AWTCounter frame) {
[Link] = frame;
}

// The event handler can access the private variables thru "frame"
@Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
[Link]++;
[Link]([Link] + "");
}
}

This code is messy! Inner class provides a much cleaner solution!

4.4 Example 8: An Anonymous Inner Class as Event Listener

Instead of using a named inner class (called BtnCountListener in the previous example), we shall use an inner class without a name,
known as anonymous inner class as the ActionListener in this example.

1 import [Link].*;
2 import [Link].*;
3
 4 // An AWT GUI program inherits from the top-level container [Link]
5 public class AWTCounterAnonymousInnerClass extends Frame {
6
7 // The event-handler actionPerformed() needs to access these private variables
8 private TextField tfCount;
9 private Button btnCount;
10 private int count = 0;
11
12 // Constructor to setup the GUI components and event handlers
13 public AWTCounterAnonymousInnerClass () {
14 setLayout(new FlowLayout()); // "super" Frame sets to FlowLayout
15 add(new Label("Counter")); // An anonymous instance of Label
16 tfCount = new TextField("0", 10);
17 [Link](false); // read-only
18 add(tfCount); // "super" Frame adds tfCount
19
20 btnCount = new Button("Count");
21 add(btnCount); // "super" Frame adds btnCount
22
23 // Construct an anonymous instance of an anonymous class.
24 // btnCount adds this instance as a ActionListener.
25 [Link](new ActionListener() {
26 @Override
27 public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
28 ++count;
29 [Link](count + "");
30 }
31 });
32
33 setTitle("AWT Counter");
34 setSize(250, 100);
35 setVisible(true);
36 }
37
38 // The entry main method
39 public static void main(String[] args) {
40 new AWTCounterAnonymousInnerClass(); // Let the constructor do the job
41 }
42 }

Dissecting the Program

The anonymous inner class is given a name generated by the compiler, and compiled into OuterClassName$[Link], where n is a
running number of the inner classes of this outer class.
An anonymous instance of an anonymous inner class is constructed, and passed as the argument of the addActionListener()
method as follows:

[Link](new ActionListener() {
@Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
++count;
[Link](count + "");
}
});

The above codes is equivalent to and compiled as:

private class N implements ActionListener { // N is a running number of the inner classes created
@Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
++count;
[Link](count + "");
}
}
[Link](new N());

// Or
N n = new N()
[Link](n);

From JDK 8, you can write the event handler using "Lambda Expression" in a one-liner as follows:

[Link](evt -> [Link](++count + ""));

Properties of Anonymous Inner Class
1. The anonymous inner class is define inside a method, instead of a member of the outer class (class member). It is local to the method
and cannot be marked with access modifier (such as public, private) or static, just like any local variable of a method.
2. An anonymous inner class must always extend a superclass or implement an interface. The keyword "extends" or "implements" is
NOT required in its declaration. An anonymous inner class must implement all the abstract methods in the superclass or in the
interface.
3. An anonymous inner class always uses the default (no-arg) constructor from its superclass to create an instance. If an anonymous
inner class implements an interface, it uses the [Link]().
4. An anonymous inner class is compiled into a class named OuterClassName$[Link], where n is a running number of inner classes
within the outer class.
5. An instance of an anonymous inner class is constructed via this syntax:

new SuperClassName/InterfaceName() { // extends superclass or implements interface

// invoke the default no-arg constructor or Object[]
// Implement abstract methods in superclass/interface
// More methods if necessary
......
}

The created instance can be assigned to a variable or used as an argument of a method.

4.5 Example 9: An Anonymous Inner Class for Each Source

Let's modify our AWTCounter example to include 3 buttons for counting up,
counting down, and reset the count, respectively. We shall attach an anonymous
inner class as the listener to each of buttons.

1 import [Link].*;
2 import [Link].*;
3
4 // An AWT GUI program inherits the top-level container [Link]
5 public class AWTCounter3ButtonsAnonymousIC extends Frame {
6 private TextField tfCount;
7 private Button btnCountUp, btnCountDown, btnReset;
8 private int count = 0;
9
10 // Constructor to setup the GUI components and event handlers
11 public AWTCounter3ButtonsAnonymousIC() {
12 setLayout(new FlowLayout());
13 add(new Label("Counter")); // an anonymous instance of Label
14 tfCount = new TextField("0", 10);
15 [Link](false); // read-only
16 add(tfCount); // "super" Frame adds tfCount
17
18 btnCountUp = new Button("Count Up");
19 add(btnCountUp);
20 // Construct an anonymous instance of an anonymous inner class.
21 // The source Button adds the anonymous instance as ActionEvent listener
22 [Link](new ActionListener() {
23 @Override
24 public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
25 ++count;
26 [Link](count + "");
27 }
28 });
29
30 btnCountDown = new Button("Count Down");
31 add(btnCountDown);
32 [Link](new ActionListener() {
33 @Override
34 public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
35 count--;
36 [Link](count + "");
37 }
38 });
39
 40 btnReset = new Button("Reset");
41 add(btnReset);
42 [Link](new ActionListener() {
43 @Override
44 public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
45 count = 0;
46 [Link]("0");
47 }
48 });
49
50 setTitle("AWT Counter");
51 setSize(400, 100);
52 setVisible(true);
53 }
54
55 // The entry main method
56 public static void main(String[] args) {
57 new AWTCounter3ButtonsAnonymousIC(); // Let the constructor do the job
58 }
59 }

Dissecting the Program

1. Each of the Buttons uses one anonymous instance of an anonymous inner class as its ActionEvent listener.

4.6 Example 10: Using the Same Listener Instance for All the Buttons
If you use the same instance as the listener for all the 3 buttons, you need to determine which button has fired the event. It is because all
the 3 buttons trigger the same event-handler method.

Using ActionEvent's getActionCommand()

In the following example, we use the same instance of a "named" inner class as the listener for all the 3 buttons. The listener needs to
determine which button has fired the event. This can be accomplished via the ActionEvent's getActionCommand() method, which
returns the button's label.

1 import [Link].*;
2 import [Link].*;
3
4 // An AWT GUI program inherits the top-level container [Link]
5 public class AWTCounter3Buttons1Listener extends Frame {
6 private TextField tfCount;
7 private Button btnCountUp, btnCountDown, btnReset;
8 private int count = 0;
9
10 // Constructor to setup the GUI components and event handlers
11 public AWTCounter3Buttons1Listener () {
12 setLayout(new FlowLayout());
13 add(new Label("Counter"));
14 tfCount = new TextField("0", 10);
15 [Link](false);
16 add(tfCount);
17
18 // Construct Buttons
19 btnCountUp = new Button("Count Up");
20 add(btnCountUp);
21 btnCountDown = new Button("Count Down");
22 add(btnCountDown);
23 btnReset = new Button("Reset");
24 add(btnReset);
25
26 // Allocate an instance of the "named" inner class BtnListener.
27 AllButtonsListener listener = new AllButtonsListener();
28 // Use the same listener instance for all the 3 Buttons.
29 [Link](listener);
30 [Link](listener);
31 [Link](listener);
32
33 setTitle("AWT Counter");
34 setSize(400, 100);
35 setVisible(true);
 36 }
37
38 // The entry main method
39 public static void main(String[] args) {
40 new AWTCounter3Buttons1Listener(); // Let the constructor do the job
41 }
42
43 /**
44 * AllButtonsListener is an named inner class used as ActionEvent listener for all the Buttons.
45 */
46 private class AllButtonsListener implements ActionListener {
47 @Override
48 public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
49 // Need to determine which button fired the event.
50 // the getActionCommand() returns the Button's label
51 String btnLabel = [Link]();
52 if ([Link]("Count Up")) {
53 ++count;
54 } else if ([Link]("Count Down")) {
55 --count;
56 } else {
57 count = 0;
58 }
59 [Link](count + "");
60 }
61 }
62 }

Using getSource() of EventObject

Besides the getActionCommand(), which is only available for ActionEvent, you can use the getSource() method, which is available to
all event objects, to retrieve a reference to the source object that has fired the event. getSource() returns a [Link]. You may
need to downcast it to the proper type of the source object. For example,

1 import [Link].*;
2 import [Link].*;
3
4 public class AWTCounter3ButtonsGetSource extends Frame {
5 private TextField tfCount;
6 private Button btnCountUp, btnCountDown, btnReset;
7 private int count = 0;
8
9 // Constructor to setup the GUI components and event handlers
10 public AWTCounter3ButtonsGetSource () {
11 setLayout(new FlowLayout());
12 add(new Label("Counter"));
13 tfCount = new TextField("0", 10);
14 [Link](false);
15 add(tfCount);
16
17 // Construct Buttons
18 btnCountUp = new Button("Count Up");
19 add(btnCountUp);
20 btnCountDown = new Button("Count Down");
21 add(btnCountDown);
22 btnReset = new Button("Reset");
23 add(btnReset);
24
25 // Allocate an instance of inner class BtnListener.
26 AllButtonsListener listener = new AllButtonsListener();
27 // Use the same listener instance to all the 3 Buttons.
28 [Link](listener);
29 [Link](listener);
30 [Link](listener);
31
32 setTitle("AWT Counter");
33 setSize(400, 100);
34 setVisible(true);
35 }
36
37 // The entry main method
 38 public static void main(String[] args) {
39 new AWTCounter3ButtonsGetSource(); // Let the constructor do the job
40 }
41
42 /**
43 * AllButtonsListener is a named inner class used as ActionEvent listener for all the Buttons.
44 */
45 private class AllButtonsListener implements ActionListener {
46 @Override
47 public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
48 // Need to determine which button has fired the event.
49 Button source = (Button)[Link]();
50 // Get a reference of the source that has fired the event.
51 // getSource() returns a [Link]. Downcast back to Button.
52 if (source == btnCountUp) {
53 ++count;
54 } else if (source == btnCountDown) {
55 --count;
56 } else {
57 count = 0;
58 }
59 [Link](count + "");
60 }
61 }
62 }

5. Event Listener's Adapter Classes

5.1 Example 11: WindowAdapter for WindowListener

Using WindowListener Interface

Refer to the WindowEventDemo, a WindowEvent listener is required to implement the WindowListener interface, which declares 7
abstract methods. Although we are only interested in windowClosing(), we need to provide an empty body to the other 6 abstract
methods in order to compile the program. This is tedious, e.g., we can rewrite the WindowEventDemo using an inner class implementing
ActionListener as follows:

1 import [Link].*;
2 import [Link].*;
3
4 // An AWT GUI program inherits the top-level container [Link]
5 public class WindowEventDemoWithInnerClass extends Frame {
6 private TextField tfCount;
7 private Button btnCount;
8 private int count = 0;
9
10 // Constructor to setup the GUI components and event handlers
11 public WindowEventDemoWithInnerClass () {
12 setLayout(new FlowLayout());
13 add(new Label("Counter"));
14 tfCount = new TextField("0", 10);
15 [Link](false);
16 add(tfCount);
17
18 btnCount = new Button("Count");
19 add(btnCount);
20 [Link](new ActionListener() {
21 @Override
22 public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
23 ++count;
24 [Link](count + "");
25 }
26 });
27
28 // Allocate an anonymous instance of an anonymous inner class
29 // that implements WindowListener.
30 // "super" Frame adds this instance as WindowEvent listener.
31 addWindowListener(new WindowListener() {
32 @Override
 33 public void windowClosing(WindowEvent evt) {
34 [Link](0); // terminate the program
35 }
36 // Need to provide an empty body for compilation
37 @Override public void windowOpened(WindowEvent evt) { }
38 @Override public void windowClosed(WindowEvent evt) { }
39 @Override public void windowIconified(WindowEvent evt) { }
40 @Override public void windowDeiconified(WindowEvent evt) { }
41 @Override public void windowActivated(WindowEvent evt) { }
42 @Override public void windowDeactivated(WindowEvent evt) { }
43 });
44
45 setTitle("WindowEvent Demo");
46 setSize(250, 100);
47 setVisible(true);
48 }
49
50 // The entry main method
51 public static void main(String[] args) {
52 new WindowEventDemoWithInnerClass(); // Let the constructor do the job
53 }
54 }

Using WindowAdapter Superclass

An adapter class called WindowAdapter is therefore provided, which implements the WindowListener interface and provides default
implementations to all the 7 abstract methods. You can then derive a subclass from WindowAdapter and override only methods of
interest and leave the rest to their default implementation. For example,

1 import [Link].*;
2 import [Link].*;
3
4 // An AWT GUI program inherits the top-level container [Link]
5 public class WindowEventDemoAdapter extends Frame {
6 private TextField tfCount;
7 private Button btnCount;
8 private int count = 0;
9
10 // Constructor to setup the GUI components and event handlers
11 public WindowEventDemoAdapter () {
12 setLayout(new FlowLayout());
13 add(new Label("Counter"));
14 tfCount = new TextField("0", 10);
15 [Link](false);
16 add(tfCount);
17
18 btnCount = new Button("Count");
19 add(btnCount);
20 [Link](new ActionListener() {
21 @Override
22 public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
23 ++count;
24 [Link](count + "");
25 }
26 });
27
28 // Allocate an anonymous instance of an anonymous inner class
29 // that extends WindowAdapter.
30 // "super" Frame adds the instance as WindowEvent listener.
31 addWindowListener(new WindowAdapter() {
32 @Override
33 public void windowClosing(WindowEvent evt) {
34 [Link](0); // Terminate the program
35 }
36 });
37
38 setTitle("WindowEvent Demo");
39 setSize(250, 100);
40 setVisible(true);
41 }
42
 43 /** The entry main method */
44 public static void main(String[] args) {
45 new WindowEventDemoAdapter(); // Let the constructor do the job
46 }
47 }

Clearly, the adapter greatly simplifies the codes.

5.2 Other Event-Listener Adapter Classes

Similarly, adapter classes such as MouseAdapter, MouseMotionAdapter, KeyAdapter, FocusAdapter are available for MouseListener,
MouseMotionListener, KeyListener, and FocusListener, respectively.

There is no ActionAdapter for ActionListener, because there is only one abstract method (i.e. actionPerformed()) declared in the
ActionListener interface. This method has to be overridden and there is no need for an adapter.

6. [SKIP] The Legacy "this" Listener

If you read some old books, you may find many examples that use "this" object as the event listener.

For example,

1 import [Link].*; // Using AWT containers and components

2 import [Link].*; // Using AWT events classes and listener interfaces
3
4 // An AWT GUI program inherits the top-level container [Link]
5 public class ThisListenerDemo extends Frame
6 implements ActionListener, WindowListener {
7 // This class acts as listener for ActionEvent and WindowEvent
8 // A Java class can extend only one superclass, but it can implement multiple interfaces.
9
10 private TextField tfCount; // Declare a TextField component
11 private Button btnCount; // Declare a Button component
12 private int count = 0; // Counter's value
13
14 // Constructor to setup the GUI components and event handlers
15 public ThisListenerDemo() {
16 setLayout(new FlowLayout()); // "super" Frame sets to FlowLayout
17
18 add(new Label("Counter")); // "super" Frame adds an anonymous Label
19
20 tfCount = new TextField("0", 10); // Construct the TextField
21 [Link](false); // read-only
22 add(tfCount); // "super" Frame adds TextField
23
24 btnCount = new Button("Count"); // Construct the Button
25 add(btnCount); // "super" Frame adds Button
26
27 [Link](this);
28 // btnCount (source object) fires ActionEvent upon clicking
29 // btnCount adds "this" object as an ActionEvent listener
30
31 addWindowListener(this);
32 // "super" Frame (source object) fires WindowEvent.
33 // "super" Frame adds "this" object as a WindowEvent listener.
34
35 setTitle("WindowEvent Demo"); // "super" Frame sets title
36 setSize(250, 100); // "super" Frame sets initial size
37 setVisible(true); // "super" Frame shows
38 }
39
40 // The entry main() method
41 public static void main(String[] args) {
42 new ThisListenerDemo(); // Let the construct do the job
43 }
44
45 /* ActionEvent handler */
46 @Override
47 public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
48 ++count;
 49 [Link](count + "");
50 }
51
52 /* WindowEvent handlers */
53 // Called back upon clicking close-window button
54 @Override
55 public void windowClosing(WindowEvent evt) {
56 [Link](0); // Terminate the program
57 }
58
59 // Not Used, BUT need to provide an empty body to compile.
60 @Override public void windowOpened(WindowEvent evt) { }
61 @Override public void windowClosed(WindowEvent evt) { }
62 // For Debugging
63 @Override public void windowIconified(WindowEvent evt) { [Link]("Window Iconified"); }
64 @Override public void windowDeiconified(WindowEvent evt) { [Link]("Window Deiconified"); }
65 @Override public void windowActivated(WindowEvent evt) { [Link]("Window Activated"); }
66 @Override public void windowDeactivated(WindowEvent evt) { [Link]("Window Deactivated"); }
67 }

There is only ONE class in this code. But this code is much harder to understand and seldom used nowadays. Using inner class is a better
solution.

7. Layout Managers and Panel

A container has a so-called layout manager to arrange its components. The layout managers provide a level of abstraction to map your
user interface on all windowing systems, so that the layout can be platform-independent.

AWT provides the following layout managers (in package [Link]): FlowLayout, GridLayout, BorderLayout, GridBagLayout,
BoxLayout, CardLayout, and others. Swing added more layout manager in package [Link], to be described later.

Container's setLayout() method

A container has a setLayout() method to set its layout manager:

// [Link]
public void setLayout(LayoutManager mgr)

To set up the layout of a Container (such as Frame, JFrame, Panel, or JPanel), you have to:
1. Construct an instance of the chosen layout object, via new and constructor, e.g., new FlowLayout())

2. Invoke the setLayout() method of the Container, with the layout object created as the argument;
3. Place the GUI components into the Container using the add() method in the correct order; or into the correct zones.

For example,

// Allocate a Panel (container)

Panel pnl = new Panel();
// Allocate a new Layout object. The Panel container sets to this layout.
[Link](new FlowLayout());
// The Panel container adds components in the proper order.
[Link](new JLabel("One"));
[Link](new JLabel("Two"));
[Link](new JLabel("Three"));
......

Container's getLayout() method

You can get the current layout via Container's getLayout() method.

Panel pnl = new Panel();

[Link]([Link]());
// [Link][hgap=5,vgap=5,align=center]

Panel's Initial Layout

Panel (and Swing's JPanel) provides a constructor to set its initial layout manager. It is because a primary function of Panel is to layout a
group of component in a particular layout.

public void Panel(LayoutManager layout)

// Construct a Panel in the given layout
// By default, Panel (and JPanel) has FlowLayout
 // For example, create a Panel in BorderLayout
Panel pnl = new Panel(new BorderLayout());

7.1 FlowLayout
In the [Link], components are arranged from left-to-right inside the
container in the order that they are added (via method [Link](aComponent)).
When one row is filled, a new row will be started. The actual appearance depends on the
width of the display window.

Constructors

public FlowLayout();
public FlowLayout(int alignment);
public FlowLayout(int alignment, int hgap, int vgap);
// alignment: [Link] (or LEADING), [Link] (or TRAILING), or [Link]
// hgap, vgap: horizontal/vertical gap between the components
// By default: hgap = 5, vgap = 5, alignment = [Link]

Example

1 import [Link].*;
2 import [Link].*;
3
4 // An AWT GUI program inherits the top-level container [Link]
5 public class AWTFlowLayoutDemo extends Frame {
6 private Button btn1, btn2, btn3, btn4, btn5, btn6;
7
8 // Constructor to setup GUI components and event handlers
9 public AWTFlowLayoutDemo () {
10 setLayout(new FlowLayout());
11 // "super" Frame sets layout to FlowLayout, which arranges the components
12 // from left-to-right, and flow from top-to-bottom.
13
14 btn1 = new Button("Button 1");
15 add(btn1);
16 btn2 = new Button("This is Button 2");
17 add(btn2);
18 btn3 = new Button("3");
19 add(btn3);
20 btn4 = new Button("Another Button 4");
21 add(btn4);
22 btn5 = new Button("Button 5");
23 add(btn5);
24 btn6 = new Button("One More Button 6");
25 add(btn6);
26
27 setTitle("FlowLayout Demo"); // "super" Frame sets title
28 setSize(280, 150); // "super" Frame sets initial size
29 setVisible(true); // "super" Frame shows
30 }
31
32 // The entry main() method
33 public static void main(String[] args) {
34 new AWTFlowLayoutDemo(); // Let the constructor do the job
35 }
36 }

7.2 GridLayout
In [Link], components are arranged in a grid (matrix) of rows and columns inside the Container. Components are added
in a left-to-right, top-to-bottom manner in the order they are added (via method [Link](aComponent)).
Constructors

public GridLayout(int rows, int columns);

public GridLayout(int rows, int columns, int hgap, int vgap);
// By default: rows = 1, cols = 0, hgap = 0, vgap = 0

Example

1 import [Link].*;
2 import [Link].*;
3
4 // An AWT GUI program inherits the top-level container [Link]
5 public class AWTGridLayoutDemo extends Frame {
6 private Button btn1, btn2, btn3, btn4, btn5, btn6;
7
8 // Constructor to setup GUI components and event handlers
9 public AWTGridLayoutDemo () {
10 setLayout(new GridLayout(3, 2, 3, 3));
11 // "super" Frame sets layout to 3x2 GridLayout, horizontal and vertical gaps of 3 pixels
12
13 // The components are added from left-to-right, top-to-bottom
14 btn1 = new Button("Button 1");
15 add(btn1);
16 btn2 = new Button("This is Button 2");
17 add(btn2);
18 btn3 = new Button("3");
19 add(btn3);
20 btn4 = new Button("Another Button 4");
21 add(btn4);
22 btn5 = new Button("Button 5");
23 add(btn5);
24 btn6 = new Button("One More Button 6");
25 add(btn6);
26
27 setTitle("GridLayout Demo"); // "super" Frame sets title
28 setSize(280, 150); // "super" Frame sets initial size
29 setVisible(true); // "super" Frame shows
30 }
31
32 // The entry main() method
33 public static void main(String[] args) {
34 new AWTGridLayoutDemo(); // Let the constructor do the job
35 }
36 }

7.3 BorderLayout
In [Link], the container is divided into 5 zones: EAST, WEST, SOUTH, NORTH,
and CENTER. Components are added using method [Link](aComponent, zone),
where zone is either [Link] (or PAGE_START), [Link] (or
PAGE_END), [Link] (or LINE_START), [Link] (or LINE_END), or
[Link].

You need not place components to all the 5 zones. The NORTH and SOUTH components may be
stretched horizontally; the EAST and WEST components may be stretched vertically; the CENTER
component may stretch both horizontally and vertically to fill any space left over.

Constructors

public BorderLayout();
public BorderLayout(int hgap, int vgap);
// By default hgap = 0, vgap = 0
Example

1 import [Link].*;
2 import [Link].*;
3
4 // An AWT GUI program inherits the top-level container [Link]
5 public class AWTBorderLayoutDemo extends Frame {
6 private Button btnNorth, btnSouth, btnCenter, btnEast, btnWest;
7
8 // Constructor to setup GUI components and event handlers
9 public AWTBorderLayoutDemo () {
10 setLayout(new BorderLayout(3, 3));
11 // "super" Frame sets layout to BorderLayout,
12 // horizontal and vertical gaps of 3 pixels
13
14 // The components are added to the specified zone
15 btnNorth = new Button("NORTH");
16 add(btnNorth, [Link]);
17 btnSouth = new Button("SOUTH");
18 add(btnSouth, [Link]);
19 btnCenter = new Button("CENTER");
20 add(btnCenter, [Link]);
21 btnEast = new Button("EAST");
22 add(btnEast, [Link]);
23 btnWest = new Button("WEST");
24 add(btnWest, [Link]);
25
26 setTitle("BorderLayout Demo"); // "super" Frame sets title
27 setSize(280, 150); // "super" Frame sets initial size
28 setVisible(true); // "super" Frame shows
29 }
30
31 // The entry main() method
32 public static void main(String[] args) {
33 new AWTBorderLayoutDemo(); // Let the constructor do the job
34 }
35 }

7.4 Using Panels as Sub-Container to Organize Components

An AWT Panel is a rectangular pane, which can be used as sub-container to organized a group of
related components in a specific layout (e.g., FlowLayout, BorderLayout). Panels are secondary
containers, which shall be added into a top-level container (such as Frame), or another Panel.

For example, the following figure shows a Frame in BorderLayout containing two Panels -
panelResult in FlowLayout and panelButtons in GridLayout. panelResult is added to the
NORTH, and panelButtons is added to the CENTER.

1 import [Link].*;
2 import [Link].*;
3
4 // An AWT GUI program inherits the top-level container [Link]
5 public class AWTPanelDemo extends Frame {
6 private Button[] btnNumbers; // Array of 10 numeric Buttons
7 private Button btnHash, btnStar;
8 private TextField tfDisplay;
9
10 // Constructor to setup GUI components and event handlers
11 public AWTPanelDemo () {
12 // Set up display panel
13 Panel panelDisplay = new Panel(new FlowLayout());
14 tfDisplay = new TextField("0", 20);
15 [Link](tfDisplay);
16
17 // Set up button panel
18 Panel panelButtons = new Panel(new GridLayout(4, 3));
19 btnNumbers = new Button[10]; // Construct an array of 10 numeric Buttons
 20 btnNumbers[1] = new Button("1"); // Construct Button "1"
21 [Link](btnNumbers[1]); // The Panel adds this Button
22 btnNumbers[2] = new Button("2");
23 [Link](btnNumbers[2]);
24 btnNumbers[3] = new Button("3");
25 [Link](btnNumbers[3]);
26 btnNumbers[4] = new Button("4");
27 [Link](btnNumbers[4]);
28 btnNumbers[5] = new Button("5");
29 [Link](btnNumbers[5]);
30 btnNumbers[6] = new Button("6");
31 [Link](btnNumbers[6]);
32 btnNumbers[7] = new Button("7");
33 [Link](btnNumbers[7]);
34 btnNumbers[8] = new Button("8");
35 [Link](btnNumbers[8]);
36 btnNumbers[9] = new Button("9");
37 [Link](btnNumbers[9]);
38 // You should use a loop for the above statements!!!
39 btnStar = new Button("*");
40 [Link](btnStar);
41 btnNumbers[0] = new Button("0");
42 [Link](btnNumbers[0]);
43 btnHash = new Button("#");
44 [Link](btnHash);
45
46 setLayout(new BorderLayout()); // "super" Frame sets to BorderLayout
47 add(panelDisplay, [Link]);
48 add(panelButtons, [Link]);
49
50 setTitle("BorderLayout Demo"); // "super" Frame sets title
51 setSize(200, 200); // "super" Frame sets initial size
52 setVisible(true); // "super" Frame shows
53 }
54
55 // The entry main() method
56 public static void main(String[] args) {
57 new AWTPanelDemo(); // Let the constructor do the job
58 }
59 }

7.5 GridBagLayout
Reference: Read "How to Use GridBagLayout" @ [Link]

7.6 Example 1
1 import [Link].*;
2 import [Link].*;
3
4 @SuppressWarnings("serial")
5 public class GridBagLayoutExample extends JPanel {
6 JButton button1, button2, button3, button4, button5;
7
8 // Constructor
9 public GridBagLayoutExample() {
10 [Link](new GridBagLayout()); // super JPanel
11 GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
12
13 // The following constraints are applicable to all components
14 // [Link] = [Link];
15
16 // Define constraints for individual components
17 button1 = new JButton("B1");
18 [Link] = 0; // column 0 (first column)
19 [Link] = 0; // row 0 (first row)
20 // [Link] = 0.5; // weight for distributing extra x-spaces
21 [Link](button1, gbc); // add and apply constraints
22
23 button2 = new JButton("B2");
 24 [Link] = 1; // column 1
25 [Link] = 0; // row 0
26 // [Link] = 1.0;
27 [Link](button2, gbc);
28
29 button3 = new JButton("B3");
30 [Link] = 2; // column 2
31 [Link] = 0; // row 0
32 // [Link] = 0.5;
33 [Link](button3, gbc);
34
35 button4 = new JButton("Long-Named Button 4");
36 [Link] = 0; // column 0
37 [Link] = 1; // row 1 (second row)
38 [Link] = 3; // span 3 columns
39 [Link] = 40; // internal padding-y
40 [Link](button4, gbc);
41
42 button5 = new JButton("5");
43 [Link] = 1; // second column
44 [Link] = 2; // third row
45 [Link] = 2; // span 2 columns
46 [Link] = 0; // reset to default
47 [Link] = GridBagConstraints.PAGE_END; // align at bottom of space
48 [Link] = new Insets(10, 0, 0, 0); // top margin
49 // [Link] = 1.0; // request any extra vertical space
50 [Link](button5, gbc);
51 }
52
53 public static void main(String[] args) {
54 [Link](new Runnable() {
55 public void run() {
56 JFrame frame = new JFrame("GridBagLayoutDemo");
57 [Link](new GridBagLayoutExample());
58 [Link](JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
59 [Link](300,300);
60 [Link](true);
61 }
62 });
63 }
64 }

Run the program, the output is in (a), where all components have their natural width and height, placed in center (anchor=CENTER) with
extra x and y spaces at the 4 margins. The ipady increases the internal y-padding for button-4 (spans 3 columns). Button 5 (spans second
and third columns) has top margin specified by insets, and anchor at the bottom-right corner (anchor=PAGE_END).

Uncomment the [Link] = [Link] (line 14). The output is in (b), where ALL components fill horizontally
with equal column width.

Uncomment all weightx (lines 20, 26, 32). The output is in (c). The extra x spaces are distributed according to the weightx of (0.5, 1.0, 0.5).

Uncomment the weighty (line 49). The output is in (d). The extra y spaces are given to row 3, as row 1 and 2 have weighty of 0 and non-
participating in the distribution of extra y-spaces.
7.7 BoxLayout
BoxLayout arrange components in a single row or column. It respects components' requests on the minimum sizes.

[TODO] Example and diagram

8. Swing

8.1 Introduction
Swing is part of the so-called "Java Foundation Classes (JFC)" (have you heard of MFC?), which was introduced in 1997 after the release of
JDK 1.1. JFC was subsequently included as an integral part of JDK since JDK 1.2. JFC consists of:
Swing API: for advanced graphical programming.
Accessibility API: provides assistive technology for the disabled.
Java 2D API: for high quality 2D graphics and images.
Pluggable look and feel supports.
Drag-and-drop support between Java and native applications.

The goal of Java GUI programming is to allow the programmer to build GUI that looks good on ALL platforms. JDK 1.0's AWT was awkward
and non-object-oriented (using many [Link]()). JDK 1.1's AWT introduced event-delegation (event-driven) model, much
clearer and object-oriented. JDK 1.1 also introduced inner class and JavaBeans – a component programming model for visual
programming environment (similar to Visual Basic).

Swing appeared after JDK 1.1. It was introduced into JDK 1.1 as part of an add-on JFC (Java Foundation Classes). Swing is a rich set of easy-
to-use, easy-to-understand JavaBean GUI components that can be dragged and dropped as "GUI builders" in visual programming
environment. Swing is now an integral part of Java since JDK 1.2.

8.2 Swing's Features

Swing is huge (consists of 18 packages of 737 classes as in JDK 1.8) and has great depth. Compared with AWT, Swing provides a huge and
comprehensive collection of reusable GUI components, as shown in the Figure below (extracted form Swing Tutorial).

The main features of Swing are (extracted from the Swing website):
1. Swing is written in pure Java (except a few classes) and therefore is 100% portable.
2. Swing components are lightweight. The AWT components are heavyweight (in terms of system resource utilization). Each AWT
component has its own opaque native display, and always displays on top of the lightweight components. AWT components rely
heavily on the underlying windowing subsystem of the native operating system. For example, an AWT button ties to an actual button
in the underlying native windowing subsystem, and relies on the native windowing subsystem for their rendering and processing.
Swing components (JComponents) are written in Java. They are generally not "weight-down" by complex GUI considerations imposed
by the underlying windowing subsystem.
3. Swing components support pluggable look-and-feel. You can choose between Java look-and-feel and the look-and-feel of the
underlying OS (e.g., Windows, UNIX or macOS). If the later is chosen, a Swing button runs on the Windows looks like a Windows'
button and feels like a Window's button. Similarly, a Swing button runs on the UNIX looks like a UNIX's button and feels like a UNIX's
button.
 4. Swing supports mouse-less operation, i.e., it can operate entirely using keyboard.
5. Swing components support "tool-tips".
6. Swing components are JavaBeans – a Component-based Model used in Visual Programming (like Visual Basic). You can drag-and-
drop a Swing component into a "design form" using a "GUI builder" and double-click to attach an event handler.
7. Swing application uses AWT event-handling classes (in package [Link]). Swing added some new classes in package
[Link], but they are not frequently used.
8. Swing application uses AWT's layout manager (such as FlowLayout and BorderLayout in package [Link]). It added new layout
managers, such as Springs, Struts, and BoxLayout (in package [Link]).

9. Swing implements double-buffering and automatic repaint batching for smoother screen repaint.
10. Swing introduces JLayeredPane and JInternalFrame for creating Multiple Document Interface (MDI) applications.
11. Swing supports floating toolbars (in JToolBar), splitter control, "undo".

12. Others - check the Swing website.

8.3 Using Swing API

If you understood the AWT programming (in particular, container/component and event-handling), switching over to Swing (or any other
Graphics packages) is straight-forward.

Swing's Components
Compared with the AWT component classes (in package [Link]), Swing component classes (in package [Link]) begin with a
prefix "J", e.g., JButton, JTextField, JLabel, JPanel, JFrame, or JApplet.

The above figure shows the class hierarchy of the swing GUI classes. Similar to AWT, there are two groups of classes: containers and
components. A container is used to hold components. A container can also hold containers because it is a (subclass of) component.

As a rule, do not mix heavyweight AWT components and lightweight Swing components in the same program, as the heavyweight
components will always be painted on top of the lightweight components.

Swing's Top-Level and Secondar y Containers

Just like AWT application, a Swing application requires a top-level container. There are three top-level containers in Swing:
1. JFrame: used for the application's main window (with an icon, a title, minimize/maximize/close buttons, an optional menu-bar, and a
content-pane), as illustrated.
2. JDialog: used for secondary pop-up window (with a title, a close button, and a content-pane).

3. JApplet: used for the applet's display-area (content-pane) inside a browser’s window.

Similarly to AWT, there are secondary containers (such as JPanel) which can be used to group and layout relevant components.

The Content-Pane of Swing's Top-Level Container

However, unlike AWT, the JComponents shall not be added onto the top-level container (e.g., JFrame, JApplet) directly because they are
lightweight components. The JComponents must be added onto the so-called content-pane of the top-level container. Content-pane is in
fact a [Link] that can be used to group and layout components.
You could:
1. get the content-pane via getContentPane() from a top-
level container, and add components onto it. For example,

public class SwingDemo extends JFrame {

// Constructor
public SwingDemo() {
// Get the content-pane of this JFrame, which is a [Link]
// All operations, such as setLayout() and add() operate on the content-pane
Container cp = getContentPane();
[Link](new FlowLayout());
[Link](new JLabel("Hello, world!"));
[Link](new JButton("Button"));
......
}
.......
}

2. set the content-pane to a JPanel (the main panel created in your application which holds all your GUI components) via JFrame's
setContentPane().

public class SwingDemo extends JFrame {

// Constructor
public SwingDemo() {
// The "main" JPanel holds all the GUI components
JPanel mainPanel = new JPanel(new FlowLayout());
[Link](new JLabel("Hello, world!"));
[Link](new JButton("Button"));

// Set the content-pane of this JFrame to the main JPanel

setContentPane(mainPanel);
......
}
.......
}

Notes: If a component is added directly into a JFrame, it is added into the content-pane of JFrame instead, i.e.,

// Suppose that "this" is a JFrame

add(new JLabel("add to JFrame directly"));
// is executed as
getContentPane().add(new JLabel("add to JFrame directly"));

Event-Handling in Swing
Swing uses the AWT event-handling classes (in package [Link]). Swing introduces a few new event-handling classes (in package
[Link]) but they are not frequently used.

Writing Swing Applications

In summary, to write a Swing application, you have:
1. Use the Swing components with prefix "J" in package [Link], e.g., JFrame, JButton, JTextField, JLabel, etc.
2. A top-level container (typically JFrame) is needed. The JComponents should not be added directly onto the top-level container. They
shall be added onto the content-pane of the top-level container. You can retrieve a reference to the content-pane by invoking
method getContentPane() from the top-level container.

3. Swing applications uses AWT event-handling classes, e.g., ActionEvent/ActionListener, MouseEvent/MouseListener, etc.
4. Run the constructor in the Event Dispatcher Thread (instead of Main thread) for thread safety, as shown in the following program
template.

8.4 Swing Program Template

1 import [Link].*; // Using AWT layouts
2 import [Link].*; // Using AWT event classes and listener interfaces
3 import [Link].*; // Using Swing components and containers
4
5 // A Swing GUI application inherits from top-level container [Link]
6 public class SwingTemplate extends JFrame {
7
8 // Private instance variables
9 // ......
10
 11 // Constructor to setup the GUI components and event handlers
12 public SwingTemplate() {
13 // Retrieve the top-level content-pane from JFrame
14 Container cp = getContentPane();
15
16 // Content-pane sets layout
17 [Link](new ....Layout());
18
19 // Allocate the GUI components
20 // .....
21
22 // Content-pane adds components
23 [Link](....);
24
25 // Source object adds listener
26 // .....
27
28 setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
29 // Exit the program when the close-window button clicked
30 setTitle("......"); // "super" JFrame sets title
31 setSize(300, 150); // "super" JFrame sets initial size
32 setVisible(true); // "super" JFrame shows
33 }
34
35 // The entry main() method
36 public static void main(String[] args) {
37 // Run GUI codes in Event-Dispatching thread for thread-safety
38 [Link](new Runnable() {
39 @Override
40 public void run() {
41 new SwingTemplate(); // Let the constructor do the job
42 }
43 });
44 }
45 }

I will explain this template in the following Swing example.

8.5 Swing Example 1: SwingCounter

Let's convert the earlier AWT application example into Swing. Compare the two source
files and note the changes (which are highlighted). The display is shown below. Note the
differences in look and feel between the AWT GUI components and Swing's.

1 import [Link].*; // Using AWT layouts

2 import [Link].*; // Using AWT event classes and listener interfaces
3 import [Link].*; // Using Swing components and containers
4
5 // A Swing GUI application inherits from top-level container [Link]
6 public class SwingCounter extends JFrame { // JFrame instead of Frame
7 private JTextField tfCount; // Use Swing's JTextField instead of AWT's TextField
8 private JButton btnCount; // Using Swing's JButton instead of AWT's Button
9 private int count = 0;
10
11 // Constructor to setup the GUI components and event handlers
12 public SwingCounter() {
13 // Retrieve the content-pane of the top-level container JFrame
14 // All operations done on the content-pane
15 Container cp = getContentPane();
16 [Link](new FlowLayout()); // The content-pane sets its layout
17
18 [Link](new JLabel("Counter"));
19 tfCount = new JTextField("0");
20 [Link](false);
21 [Link](tfCount);
22
23 btnCount = new JButton("Count");
24 [Link](btnCount);
 25
26 // Allocate an anonymous instance of an anonymous inner class that
27 // implements ActionListener as ActionEvent listener
28 [Link](new ActionListener() {
29 @Override
30 public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
31 ++count;
32 [Link](count + "");
33 }
34 });
35
36 setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE); // Exit program if close-window button clicked
37 setTitle("Swing Counter"); // "super" JFrame sets title
38 setSize(300, 100); // "super" JFrame sets initial size
39 setVisible(true); // "super" JFrame shows
40 }
41
42 // The entry main() method
43 public static void main(String[] args) {
44 // Run the GUI construction in the Event-Dispatching thread for thread-safety
45 [Link](new Runnable() {
46 @Override
47 public void run() {
48 new SwingCounter(); // Let the constructor do the job
49 }
50 });
51 }
52 }

JFrame's Content-Pane
The JFrame's method getContentPane() returns the content-pane (which is a [Link]) of the JFrame. You can then set its
layout (the default layout is BorderLayout), and add components into it. For example,

Container cp = getContentPane(); // Get the content-pane of this JFrame

[Link](new FlowLayout()); // content-pane sets to FlowLayout
[Link](new JLabel("Counter")); // content-pane adds a JLabel component
......
[Link](tfCount); // content-pane adds a JTextField component
......
[Link](btnCount); // content-pane adds a JButton component

You can also use the JFrame's setContentPane() method to directly set the content-pane to a JPanel (or a JComponent). For example,

JPanel displayPanel = new JPanel();

setContentPane(displayPanel);
// "this" JFrame sets its content-pane to a JPanel directly
.....

// The above is different from:

getContentPane().add(displayPanel);
// Add a JPanel into the content-pane. Appearance depends on the JFrame's layout.

JFrame's setDefaultCloseOperation()
Instead of writing a WindowEvent listener with a windowClosing() handler to process the "close-window" button, JFrame provides a
method called setDefaultCloseOperation() to sets the default operation when the user initiates a "close" on this frame. Typically, we
choose the option JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE, which terminates the application via a [Link]().

setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);

Running the GUI Construction Codes on the Event-Dispatching Thread

In the previous examples, we invoke the constructor directly in the entry main() method to setup the GUI components. For example,

// The entry main method

public static void main(String[] args) {
// Invoke the constructor (by allocating an instance) to setup the GUI
new SwingCounter();
}

The constructor will be executed in the so-called "Main-Program" thread. This may cause multi-threading issues (such as unresponsive
user-interface and deadlock).
It is recommended to execute the GUI setup codes in the so-called "Event-Dispatching" thread, instead of "Main-Program" thread, for
thread-safe operations. Event-dispatching thread, which processes events, should be used when the codes updates the GUI.

To run the constructor on the event-dispatching thread, invoke static method [Link]() to asynchronously
queue the constructor on the event-dispatching thread. The codes will be run after all pending events have been processed. For example,

public static void main(String[] args) {

// Run the GUI codes in the Event-dispatching thread for thread-safety
[Link](new Runnable() {
@Override
public void run() {
new SwingCounter(); // Let the constructor do the job
}
});
}

Note: [Link]() is a cover for [Link]() (which is used in the

NetBeans' Visual GUI Builder).

At times, for example in game programming, the constructor or the main() may contains non-GUI codes. Hence, it is a common practice to
create a dedicated method called initComponents() (used in NetBeans visual GUI builder) or createAndShowGUI() (used in Swing
tutorial) to handle all the GUI codes (and another method called initGame() to handle initialization of the game's objects). This GUI init
method shall be run in the event-dispatching thread.

Warning Message "The serialization class does not declare a static final serialVersionUID field of type
long"
This warning message is triggered because [Link] (via its superclass [Link]) implements the
[Link] interface. This interface enables the object to be written out to an output stream serially (via method
writeObject()); and read back into the program (via method readObject()). The serialization runtime uses a number (called
serialVersionUID) to ensure that the object read into the program is compatible with the class definition, and not belonging to another
version.

You have these options:

1. Simply ignore this warning message. If a serializable class does not explicitly declare a serialVersionUID, then the serialization
runtime will calculate a default serialVersionUID value for that class based on various aspects of the class.
2. Add a serialVersionUID (Recommended), e.g.

private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L; // version 1

3. Suppress this particular warning via annotation @SuppressWarnings (in package [Link]) (JDK 1.5):

@SuppressWarnings("serial")
public class MyFrame extends JFrame { ...... }

8.6 Swing Example 2: SwingAccumulator

1 import [Link].*; // Using layouts
2 import [Link].*; // Using AWT event classes and listener interfaces
3 import [Link].*; // Using Swing components and containers
4
5 // A Swing GUI application inherits the top-level container [Link]
6 public class SwingAccumulator extends JFrame {
7 private JTextField tfInput, tfOutput;
8 private int sum = 0; // accumulated sum, init to 0
9
10 // Constructor to setup the GUI components and event handlers
11 public SwingAccumulator() {
12 // Retrieve the content-pane of the top-level container JFrame
13 // All operations done on the content-pane
14 Container cp = getContentPane();
15 [Link](new GridLayout(2, 2, 5, 5)); // The content-pane sets its layout
16
17 [Link](new JLabel("Enter an Integer: "));
18 tfInput = new JTextField(10);
19 [Link](tfInput);
20 [Link](new JLabel("The Accumulated Sum is: "));
21 tfOutput = new JTextField(10);
22 [Link](false); // read-only
23 [Link](tfOutput);
24
 25 // Allocate an anonymous instance of an anonymous inner class that
26 // implements ActionListener as ActionEvent listener
27 [Link](new ActionListener() {
28 @Override
29 public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
30 // Get the String entered into the input TextField, convert to int
31 int numberIn = [Link]([Link]());
32 sum += numberIn; // accumulate numbers entered into sum
33 [Link](""); // clear input TextField
34 [Link](sum + ""); // display sum on the output TextField
35 }
36 });
37
38 setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE); // Exit program if close-window button clicked
39 setTitle("Swing Accumulator"); // "super" Frame sets title
40 setSize(350, 120); // "super" Frame sets initial size
41 setVisible(true); // "super" Frame shows
42 }
43
44 // The entry main() method
45 public static void main(String[] args) {
46 // Run the GUI construction in the Event-Dispatching thread for thread-safety
47 [Link](new Runnable() {
48 @Override
49 public void run() {
50 new SwingAccumulator(); // Let the constructor do the job
51 }
52 });
53 }
54 }

9. Using Visual GUI Builder - NetBeans/Eclipse

If you have a complicated layout for your GUI application, you should use a GUI Builder, such as NetBeans or Eclipse to layout your GUI
components in a drag-and-drop manner, similar to the popular visual languages such as Visual Basic.

9.1 NetBeans
For using NetBeans GUI Builder, read my "Writing Java GUI (AWT/Swing) Application in NetBeans"; or Swing Tutorial's "Learning Swing with
the NetBeans IDE".

9.2 Eclipse
For using Eclipse GUI Builder, read "Writing Swing Applications using Eclipse GUI Builder".

LINK TO JAVA REFERENCES & RESOURCES

MORE REFERENCES & RESOURCES

1. "Creating a GUI With JFC/Swing" (aka "The Swing Tutorial") @ [Link]
2. JFC Demo (under JDK demo "jfc" directory).

3. Java2D Tutorial @ [Link]

4. JOGL (Java Binding on OpenGL)
5. Java3D

Latest version tested: JDK 15.0.2

Last modified: April 2021
Feedback, comments, corrections, and errata can be sent to Chua Hock-Chuan (ehchua@[Link]) | HOME