Java Notes

Components

Components (also known as "widgets") are the basic user interface elements the user interacts with: labels, buttons, text fields, ... Components are placed in a container (eg, JPanel). The visual arrangement of the components depends on the container's layout. When the user does something to a component, the component's listener is sent an event.

Vanilla Java. The most important components to learn for simple programs are: JLabel, JButton, and JTextField. Learn these first.

Input Components

• Buttons ( JButton, Radio Buttons, JCheckBox)
• Text (JTextField, JTextArea)
• Menus (JMenuBar, JMenu, JMenuItem)
• Sliders (JSlider)
• JComboBox (uneditable) (JComboBox)

Information Display Components

• JLabel
• Progress bars (JProgressBar) - no notes
• Tool tips (using JComponent's setToolTipText(s) method)

Choosers

• File chooser (JFileChooser)
• Color chooser (JColorChooser) - no notes

More complex displays

• Tables (JTable) - no notes
• Trees (JTree) - no notes
• Formatted Text - no notes