Java Reference
In-Depth Information
25.14.
javax.swing
Swing GUI Components
The Swing components are a rich set of graphical user-interface controls.
They are written to look and behave for the user identically on all sys-
tems as far as possible. This is in contrast to the
AWT
components which
rely on the native
GUI
components. An
AWT
button will look like a Win-
dows button on a Windows machine, a Macintosh button on a Macintosh
computer, and so forthits interaction with the program is the same on all
platforms, but the user will see the native look and feel. A Swing com-
ponent can have the same look on all platformsits code is written in the
Java programming language. The look and feel is "pluggable"you or the
user can use one of the standard look-and-feels or invent one. Swing
components are also give you more control over the look and behavior
of the system. You only occasionally need such control, but it is nice to
have it when you do need it.
The Swing components use the same event model as
AWT
and JavaBeans
components, although the components do define some new events.
Several subpackages define interface objects, tools for defining a custom
pluggable look-and-feel, support
HTML
and text editing, and support some
of the more complex components, such as tree displays and tables.
