Java GUI/graphics

Question

What are the main 'design' packages for Java? I had a look around and from what I see, Swing seems pretty limited. Of course I may be judgemental, as I am completely new to Java. With what packages can I actually create beautifull looking GUIs in Java?

The term you're looking for is 'GUI framework'. Check out these related questions. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/281342/which-java-gui-framework-to-choose-now http://stackoverflow.com/questions/138722/which-gui-library-is-the-best-in-java — Grilse, Feb 05 '12 at 21:12
LAF in Swing is not quite up to par with HTML&CSS but it's still pretty solid. — JHollanti, Feb 05 '12 at 21:17
The question is where the OP thinks Swing might be too limited for what he tries to achieve. — stryba, Feb 05 '12 at 21:31
Absent measurable evaluation criteria, this question is not constructive. — trashgod, Feb 05 '12 at 21:45
@stryba: Sure, but it's a lot trickier than customizing a run of the mill web app. — JHollanti, Feb 05 '12 at 21:46

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 05 '12 at 21:09

5

Swing, and it's not limited at all.

answered Feb 05 '12 at 21:09

stryba

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score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 05 '12 at 21:24

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Swing is one of the richest GUI frameworks that exist other than Qt. See it with the latest LAF http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/lookandfeel/nimbus.html

answered Feb 05 '12 at 21:24

NotCamelCase

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score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 05 '12 at 21:19

2

Aside from Swing there's SWT, Buoy and Qt Jambi which is the best in my opinion.

answered Feb 05 '12 at 21:19

Vlad

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Note: You have to dispose of your widgets yourself using Qt or SWT! They are just bindings to libraries implemented in languages without GC. – Janus Troelsen Feb 05 '12 at 21:34

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 05 '12 at 21:24

1

You can try Pivot. Efficient, good design, and you may get better looking UI than Swing.

answered Feb 05 '12 at 21:24

HammerGuy

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score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Feb 05 '12 at 21:35

You cannot state that Swing is limited if you read this book: http://filthyrichclients.org :-). I think a good choose would be JavaFX as it is supposed to be a "replacement" for Swing in java desktop applications. Other good options you could evaluate are Apache Pivot and griffon (grails-style framework for desktop applications). Griffon can run on different UI toolkits through plugins (Swing, JavaFX, SWT, Pivot, GTK).

Java GUI/graphics

5 Answers5