RE: SWT or Swing GUI?

["Stefan Baramov" <s_baramov@bellsouth.net>]

These lines of code are well know. Do they work under XP? I guess with JDK
1.5 they will. But I bet you they do not work well with KDE or Gnome.

- stefan

-----Original Message-----
From: Ed Jenkins [mailto:andexor@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, August 18, 2003 10:07 AM
To: Ajug Members
Subject: RE: SWT or Swing GUI?


Swing can also be made to have a native look-and-feel with just a few extra
lines of code.  I
haven't seen much of SWT, so I don't know whether it looks more native than
Swing or not.

The trained eye of a programmer can tell that some things are not quite
right with Swing's native
look-and-feel, but for most users it's close enough and they can't tell the
difference.

Here is some Swing code you can put in a class that inherits from JFrame.
Lines 1 and 3 are the
most important.  Lines 4 and 5 are for when you want to change the
look-and-feel on the fly, while
the window is visible.

String strSkin = UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName();
Class.forName(strSkin);
UIManager.setLookAndFeel(strSkin);
SwingUtilities.updateComponentTreeUI(this);
pack();

Another reason to use Swing is for its built-in support for accessibility.
If your app needs to
be able to work with screen readers, this may be the way to go.

Ed

--- Stefan Baramov <s_baramov@bellsouth.net> wrote:
> Why I would you SWT:
> - Native look and feel - it looks like your OS native GUI. Consider XP,
> Gnome and KDE. All of them have their own skin engine. In this case Swing
> looks ...... different. No consistence
>
> Why I would you Swing/JFC:
> - Deployment platform may vary, no resources for platform testing are
> available.
> - Custom ( and OS different) look and feel is required.
>
> But in both case you have to be very careful with GUI resources such as
> pictures, dialog boxes, windows and so one. With both libraries it is
quite
> easy to create a "fat" application that sucks up all you resources.
>
> On a side note, GUI Designers:
> - Swing - JBuilder personal edition
> - SWT - Advance SWT Designer http://www.swt-designer.com/
>
>
> Historical note:
> http://www.mail-archive.com/jug-discussion@tucson-jug.org/msg00355.html
>
> Good luck Lee,
> Stefan Baramov
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Lee Chalupa [mailto:lchalupa@seelink.org]
> Sent: Saturday, August 16, 2003 3:37 PM
> To: Ajug Members
> Subject: SWT or Swing GUI?
>
>
> Hello.
>
> I need to start development of a thick client for an application and I am
> debating whether to use SWT or Swing.  I presently use swing in the
> MagicDraw UML product and I use SWT in Eclipse so I have some significant
> experience as a user in each.
>
> I'm very pleased with the MagicDraw application and have no complaints
with
> it's interface.  Though I do appreciate what people describe as "spongy"
> swing controls.  This is a noticable problem but not a significant problem
> for me in the MagicDraw swing application but I can't speak for other
> users.
>
> My application will be competing against other vendor's gui products that
> are best of breed so I really want to avoid any potential performance
> issues with the gui from the start. In this case, it's not so much an
issue
> of Swing versus SWT it's one of these products versus VB or Delphi.
>
> The application is designed for use in a small office so we will have the
> ability to control the deployment of the application thus using add-ons to
> the JDK like SWT would not be an issue.
>
> As long as SWT still provides platform independence, what is the downside
> of using SWT?  One maybe the lack of gui tools?  One maybe the risk that
> Sun will improve swing in the future and eliminate the benefits SWT
> provides making the need obsolete?  One maybe lack of educational
> materials?  One maybe the limited variety of widgets offered in the
> toolkit.
>
> I'm currently reading information on various web sites.
>
> Does anyone have any other advice on managing this issue?
>
> Thanks
>
> lee
>
>
> --
> Lee Chalupa
> Something Else Enterprises, Inc.
> lchalupa@seelink.org
> 770 318 2377


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