Need Overview of Modern Java for Desktop Applications

Question

I've been asked to write a cross-platform desktop app in Java. Targeted platforms are Windows/OSX/Linux.

I learned Java 1.1 1997, and did a few small utilities and applets using the the AWT library. I've done nothing with it since.

What modern technologies and libraries should I use for this project? I'm just looking for a list so I can follow up with Google. There is a lot of java stuff out there, and it is difficult for an outsider to make sense of it all.

Also, do you have any broad tips on distribution, installation and auto-updating?

To give you an idea of my background, I've been writing complex desktop apps since 1988 in C, C++, Visual Basic, Delphi and C#. Any tips you give me would really help me get a running start on this project.

Thank you very much for your help.

EDIT: I will be doing a lot of custom controls, if that makes a difference.

Answer 1

I would start with Swing and SWT, because the first decision you will need to make will be to pick one of them, and it probably won't be feasible to switch later.

There are a lot of other general-purpose libraries that may be useful, e.g. Guava and Apache Commons Collections, but those can be mixed and matched so that decision is not so critical.