RE: SWT or Swing GUI?

[Ed Jenkins <andexor@yahoo.com>]

I don't know.  I have only used it on Win98, NT4, and Win2K.  Someone who has XP can test it there
and see what happens.

Ed

--- Stefan Baramov <s_baramov@bellsouth.net> wrote:
> 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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