Java Swing: Libraries, Tools, Layout Managers [closed]

Question

What libraries/tools do you have in your Java Swing Tool set?

• XUL
• Layout Managers
• Packagers/Installers
• Books
• etc.....

Answer 1

Here is what I use:

• "Framework": Swing Application Framework, does not do much, but does it quite well (if you use it you may want to take a look at one presentation I did last year)
• JTables: handling tables is often a pain (lots of boilerplate code...); I generally use GlazedLists which simplifies the work a lot (and brings many improvements)
• EventBus: this was mentioned in another answer
• LayoutManager: DesignGridLayout (shameless plug, this is one of my open source projects)
• Look & Feel: Substance is very good in some situations where you don't want to use the system look and feel
• Docking library: if your application needs docking, you will find MyDoggy useful (and it has a well-written API). One problem it has is a bad integration with some third-party look and feels (like Substance)

All these libraries above are open source.

In addition to that, I have my own set of utility classes that, among other things, help integrating the GUI with a Dependency Injection library: I have a set of utilities for HiveMind container (for the few developers that know it and still use it), and another -in preparation, soon open sourced- for Guice.

I have read no specific book about Swing development, but I have used Swing for about 10 years now (not continuously however). Hence I have no recommendation in terms of books (unfortunately, because I admit that this is one weak point of Swing).

"Filthy Rich Clients" book is useful only if:

1. you know Swing well
2. you want to build "fancy" GUIs