IT-IPT 01 - Chapter 6: GUI in Java

IT-IPT 01 - Chapter 6: Graphical User Interface in Java

• Swing: Introduced in 1997 as part of JFC (Java Foundation Classes), used for window-based applications
• Built on top of AWT (Abstract Windowing Toolkit) API
• Entirely written in Java
• Incorporated into JDK 1.2
• Consists of 737 classes distributed across 18 packages

Java Foundation Classes (JFC)

• Set of GUI components simplifying desktop application development
• Includes 3 packages: AWT, Swing, JavaFX (Java2D)
• Fundamental for creating GUIs in Java

Difference Between AWT and Swing

• AWT: Platform-dependent components, heavyweight components, fewer components compared to Swing
• Swing: Platform-independent, lightweight components, offers more powerful components (tables, lists, scrollpanes, color chooser, tabbed panes, etc.)

Swing Components

• Similar to AWT components (Button, TextField, Label, Panel, Frame, Applet)
• Component classes prefixed with "J" (JButton, JTextField, etc.)
• Hierarchical structure: Containers hold components
• Containers can hold other containers
• Component class extended by container class, allowing containers to hold components and containers

Swing Components Hierarchy

• Object
• Component
• AWT Components (JLabel, JApplet, etc.)
•   JComponent -  Container -  Panel - Window -  Applet - Frame - Dialog
  • JComponent
    • JLabel etc.

Swing's Top-Level and Secondary Containers

• JFrame: The main window with title, icon, content pane, and optional menu bar. Features maximize, minimize, close, buttons.
• JDialog: Popup windows with title, icon, content pane, and close button.
• JApplet: Used for rendering applets within a browser window (similar to AWT's JPanel for grouping components)

Creating a Frame using Swing

• Method 1 (Association): Create JFrame object, add components (Buttons), set bounds, close operation, size, layout, and visibility.

• Method 2 (Inheritance): Extend JFrame class, set title, add components, use add method, set close operation, set size, set layout and visibility.

JavaFX Packages

• JavaFX application
• Top-level containers
• Scenes and Scene Graphs (including Controls, Layouts, Shapes, etc)
• Event Handling
• Animation

Difference Between AWT, Swing and JavaFX

• AWT: First-generation toolkit, platform-dependent, heavyweight components
• Swing: Second-generation toolkit, platform-independent, lightweight components
• JavaFX: Third-generation toolkit, platform-independent, lightweight components, used for desktop applications, websites, and handheld devices

JavaFX Diagram #1

• Stage: Top-level container
• Layout: Arrangement of components
• Scene: Contains all visible objects in the window
• Control: User interface elements (buttons, etc.)
• Events: Changes in the application state

Key JavaFX Concepts

• Control: Components allowing user interaction with applications or websites
• Layout: Defines the arrangement and display of components within containers
• Scene: Contains all visual (visual) elements in a window
• Stage: Top-level JavaFX container
• Event: State change in input devices, user actions or background tasks

JavaFX Stage

• Contains all objects from a JavaFX application
• Created by the platform, passed to Application’s start method
• Properties: Width, Height, Content Area and Decorations
• Styles: Decorated, Undecorated, Transparent, Unified, Utility (accessed by calling show() method)

JavaFX Scene

• Scene object added to only one stage
• Created by instantiating the JavaFX scene class
• Dimensions (height, width) passed with root node during instantiation

Scene Graphs and Nodes

• Scene graph: Tree-like data structure representing scene contents
• Node: Visual/graphical object in the scene graph
• Include geometrical objects, UI controls, layouts, media elements

JavaFX Node Types

• Root Node: Starting point for JavaFX Scene Graph
• Branch Node (Parent Node): Has child nodes (e.g., layout classes)
• Leaf Node: No child nodes (e.g., images, shapes)

JavaFX Layouts

• HBox: Arranges nodes horizontally
• VBox: Arranges nodes vertically
• BorderPane: Arranges nodes in top, bottom, left, right, and center
• StackPane: Arranges nodes like a stack (last added appears on top)
• TilePane: Arranges nodes in uniformly sized tiles
• GridPane: Arranges nodes in a grid (rows and columns)
• FlowPane: Arranges nodes in a flow (wraps horizontally or vertically)
• AnchorPane: Arranges nodes with specific distances from the pane

JavaFX Controls

• Includes various GUI components (buttons, labels, checkboxes, choiceboxes, listviews textfields, password fields)

JavaFX Event Handling

• Mechanism controlling events in JavaFX applications
• Every event has: a target (node where event occurred), source (initiating entity) and type (e.g., mouse click, key press).
• JavaFX includes classes, such as KeyEvent, MouseEvent, etc., to handle different events.

JavaFX Animation

• Package javafx.animation for animating nodes’ properties over time
• Transition types (Fade, Fill, Translate, Rotate, Scale, Stroke)
• Using Timeline and KeyFrame to control the animation, setting the duration and properties for animation frame.

VM Options for Execution

• --module-path: Specifies the path to the JavaFX modules
• --add-modules: Specifies the necessary JavaFX modules for execution

This quiz covers Chapter 6 of the IT-IPT course, focusing on Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) in Java. You'll learn about Swing, its components, and how it differs from AWT. Test your knowledge of Java Foundation Classes and their role in desktop application development.