Best GUI Builder for Java/Swing [closed]

Question

Any good recent (Java 6+) Swing GUI builders the SO community would like to recommend? Some features I'm interested in:

• Open source - great if its open but not hard requirement
• Null layout managers - allow me to drag-n-drop controls where I want them
• Custom controls
• Design/Code split view or the ability to toggle back and forth

Thanks for any suggestions!

Answer 1

Netbeans is the best there is for Swing and will cover everything you need:

• free,
• open source,
• null layout available, if you must use it... :-) ,
• drag-n-drop,
• custom controls you can drag-n-drop too,
• great flexibility with files and projects and
• refactoring.

They offer the best integration of Matisse Swing builder.

It is absolutely stable, expandable and fast. There is a large number of plugins.

Hibernate reverse engineering is well implemented and there is a vast number of step-by-step tutorials that will help you start.

Answer 2

I personally use WindowBuilder Pro by Google. It is a plugin for Eclipse and it is free.

The next release of Eclipse - Indigo - will be on the 2nd of July and it will include WindowBuilder by default.

WindowBuilder is a powerful and easy to use bi-directional Java GUI designer that makes it very easy to create Java GUI applications without spending a lot of time writing code to display simple forms. With WindowBuilder you can create complicated windows in minutes. Use the visual designer and Java code will be generated for you. You can easily add controls using drag-and-drop, add event handlers to your controls, change various properties of controls using a property editor, internationalize your app and much more.

Reference link: WindowBuilder Pro