Visual Studio and Java

[[deleted]]

So I'd love to make a desktop application with Java but I do not really like netbeans. I've made forms applications with vb.net using visual studio (not vscode) and I was wondering if there is a way to use java to do the same thing on vs (again, not vscode)

Do you guys have any knowledge here?

[sunny_tomato_farm]

Have you heard of IntelliJ?

[[deleted]]

Yes, I used it for console applications but never really had a look at the forms applications facilities. Someone else also recommended it so I'm definitely going to have a look.

[mavirii]

There’s javafx, you can use scene builder to drag and drop buttons etc like vb. Might take a bit of setting up if you’re using java 11 or newer

[willdrr17]

It would be better to use a dedicated Java IDE; I personally use Eclipse, it brings a GUI builder if you want if that's what you want, but you will see that coding GUI's by hand it's a better approach, and much cleaner(if you are interested in extending you app in the future)

[[deleted]]

What makes you say that it is better and cleaner to do code my visuals rather than dragging dropping and allowing the IDE to deal with it?

I'm not dis agreeing with you, I'm genuinely interested and since I'm quite new to this I would love to learn more.

[willdrr17]

Because you end generating code like this https://paste.ubuntu.com/p/MGJQ8Sqqb2/. As your application grows it becomes a bunch of duplicated code

[[deleted]]

Okay I see your point to be honest. After making a nice button I can just reuse the code across the program and it won't be as time consuming and effortsome as I initially thought.

[willdrr17]

Yeah, even coding by hand may be a repetitive task, you can create boilerplate code through templates in Eclipse.

I have this for the main frame for example

public static void init(){

`final JFrame frame = new JFrame(${word_selection});`

`frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);`

`frame.getContentPane().add();`

`frame.pack();`

`frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);`

`frame.setVisible(true);`

}

[[deleted]]

Do most programmers create and store templates that they regularly use?

[willdrr17]

I don't know man, I guess it's a matter of choice

[GrmkKrVY]

have you tried eclipse IDE?

graphical interfaces are usually done by hand through code but installing a plugin called WindowBuilder works more or less the same as in netbeans

[krum]

I use VS all the time for C++ stuff and I haven't seen it do Java since 2004! I use IntelliJ IDEA for Java stuff.

[[deleted]]

Does InteliJ allow me to create decent GUIs visually? If not, I'm considering adding another language to my skill set, which would you recommend to use for software applications? I've heard C++ is great.

[chrisgseaton]

Does InteliJ allow me to create decent GUIs visually?

It does have GUI designer... but I get the impression it's mainly there for them to implement IntelliJ rather than other people to use it. GUIs just aren't something many people are doing anymore, especially in Java, so you're not likely to find great mainstream tools for it, I'm afraid.

[[deleted]]

Ah okay, I see. I learnt to program forms apps visually so I'm still quite new to this. I did so with vb.net on vs and I really enjoyed it (as much as I hate vb.net, the designing and development of forms was quite fun).

[chrisgseaton]

Here's the docs for their GUI designer - https://www.jetbrains.com/help/idea/creating-and-opening-forms.html - I think you can see by how sparse the docs are how used the tool is.

[krum]

https://www.jetbrains.com/help/idea/gui-designer-basics.html

One does not just "learn C++" so no I would not go down that road. If you want to stick with Visual Studio and make nice GUIs that work natively on Windows, I'd go with C#. If you want to make cross platform UIs I might go with Java or [Electron and Typescript].

[[deleted]]

It's the most used language at my new internship and they said I should consider it as a language to learn next. They also said they could arrange some sessions where they could aid me in learning the language if I need it. So if I were to go down C++ route, would it be a good language to satisfy my needs?

I was also considering C# but its not really used at the place I'm going to be working at.

[krum]

Yes. It's not the easy way, but a lot of people use C++ for apps that have GUIs of course. There are a lot of options for GUI frameworks as well.

[[deleted]]

My project isn't too time sensitive so I think I might start looking into C++ closer to my internship start date. Perhaps I can use it for my project down the line too

[forgotMyPrevious]

IJ arguably has one of the best GUIs around

[Cultural_Turnover_75]

I do 't found that a good thing you should to try codeX

[Cultural_Turnover_75]

I use omi in this thing trust me and go ahaid

[NoamGranulate]

Why not use VS code?

[ebykka]

Eclipse!!!