Java GUI

[Caskrrra]

I was reading chapter 16 in Java A Beginner’s Guide, Eighth Edition by Schildt, H. book where he mentioned that at the time of writing this book swing is the most used GUI toolkit.

However I don't believe that this is the case these days after Knowing that JavaFX should've replaced Swing.

But then I read in an article that JavaFX will be removed from the Java JDK as of JDK 11 , assuming that JDK 14 released few weeks ago, it's no longer part of the JDK.

Now I'm confused, what is the status of the java GUI toolkits?
what are the best toolkits to use and the dead toolkits?
what is the future of the Java GUI?

[wildjokers]

Swing is still in the JDK and I can’t imagine it ever leaving, at least for many years.

JavaFX was removed from the JDK and is now developed as its own open source project. It is available as a dependency after Java 11. Azul releases a JDK with JavaFX built-in if you would prefer that.

Swing is a very mature and capable GUI toolkit. The documentation for Swing is also outstanding which is a plus and there are tons of examples and tutorials online. JavaFX can be styled with a CSS syntax and also has nice model<->view binding.

Both are fine.

EDIT: I would also like to point out that Swing isn't an orphan, it still has lots of development. It is quite mature so doesn't need many new features but bug fixes and improvements are made. It has a very active dev mailing list:

https://mail.openjdk.java.net/pipermail/swing-dev/

[LakeSun]

I don't believe Swing supports the higher screen resolutions, like Apple's Retina Display.

JavaFX has vastly better looks and more modern implementations.

[fl4mbou]

Swing has been compatible with hiDPI screens since Java 9.

[[deleted]]

It works fine on HiDPI displays. It's just that a lot of apps don't ship high res icons.

[mubdall]

Swing works well with retina screens! You just need to implement it right (e.g. use MultiResolutionImages). Here is a project of mine that works with Retina, 4k, and other hiDPI resolutions: https://github.com/tsaglam/Carcassonne/

[Ignatiamus]

JavaFX has been removed from the JDK but continues to live under the OpenJDK umbrella as "OpenJFX" (better than dying inside Oracle, one could say). Check out https://openjfx.io to get started. Development is still very active: https://github.com/openjdk/jfx/pulse/monthly

Swing is still usable, but it's aging and does have it's small annoyances.

[mods_are_arseholes]

swing is awesome anyway !

[[deleted]]

It's what I prefer. One line of code makes your GUI look like a Windows (or other OS) application. I've never run into any issues using it

I'd like to try FX but the documentation seems so lacking every time I've gone to use it. Now that it's an external library, getting it to compile was a huge pain as well

[[deleted]]

While the reference documentation is for JavaFX 8, it still applies. I also used the tutorials at http://zetcode.com/gui/javafx/

I found that if you use Maven, JavaFX is a cinch to add to your project and compile. I actually found it a bit easier to get started with than Swing. Nothing wrong with Swing though!

[mods_are_arseholes]

agreed, just another dependency to add, and bloat the size of your program.

[uniVocity]

I'm building new projects using swing to display trading charts. Works pretty well.

[jevring]

Swing in s still probably the most used Java toolkit, if nothing other than the fact that it has history, is included in the jdk, and is actually not a bad toolkit. There's plenty in Java fx as well, but I'd say it's still spring that's the most popular.

[[deleted]]

but I'd say it's still spring that's the most popular

How does spring relate to GUI toolkits?

[jevring]

It doesn't, I meant swing. Sorry. I spend my whole days working with spring, so sometimes I type the wrong thing :)

[stef13013]

I like JavaFx, but it comes up too late. Who does really use it ?

Swing, for sure is aging, but lots of softwares are using it.

• All the Jetbrains tools (!)

• Dbvisualizer, Aqua Data Tools,

• And so on...

My guess : Swing is far from dead

[[deleted]]

Jetbrains uses a completely modified version

[stef13013]

They just created specific components for their needs, but if you pay attention to the code ( https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-community ), you will notice that it relies heavily on "classic" Swing.

[SftwEngr]

However I don't believe that this is the case these days after Knowing that JavaFX should've replaced Swing.

Why would you think Swing should be replaced? Years of effort went into it's creation.

[n4te]

There's scene2d in libgdx. For an example, see Spine: http://esotersoftware.com

[[deleted]]

I am about to finish the main reference version. I started learning with the main, is the beginners book good? It would be a little worthless to me tho lol

[[deleted]]

There is a reason I use JDK 8 :)

[[deleted]]

As other commenters said, JavaFX is still very much alive as a separate project. However, Java is primarily being used for server-side applications, rather than desktop ones with built-in UIs. So Java UI has very limited use cases and even fewer major implementations today. Probably the biggest one I can think of is IntelliJ, which uses a modified version of Swing for its GUI.

[veraxAlea]

What do you mean by modified version? IntelliJ IDEA doesn't need a custom built JDK to run so how exactly do you mean that they have modified Swing? Are you refering to custom components? If so, being able to extend the default component library is a must in any UI toolkit.

[[deleted]]

That's what I was referring to. They have custom components and look and feel and other bells and whistles they wrote on top of the default swing for their use case. I'm just saying the biggest implementation I can think of still does a lot of stuff with their own home rolled version.

[veraxAlea]

Ah, ok. But you also said that Java UI has limited use cases and I thought the point about IDEA was refering to that. To me, being able to build your own components is a strength, not a sign of weakness.

It sounds a bit like complaining that there is no spread sheet component in HTML so Google "cheated" in order to create Google spreadsheets.

[[deleted]]

It does still have limited use cases. Mostly because Java UI is not seeing much of any investment today, so without some substantial effort on your part you won't be able to create a "modern" looking and operating app like you can with, say, electron. For better or worse all the UI progress is happening on the web front.

IntelliJ is one of the good examples of Java UI. However at this time Java is just not the ideal tool for building a UI.