If you're developing software that will be used by a large group of people, you need to give it a good-looking front-end--in Java 2, that means you have to use Swing. An excellent resource, Graphic Java 2: Mastering the JFC, Third Edition (Volume 2: Swing) takes on the Swing components one at a time and shows you how to incorporate them into attractive, efficient programs.
In many ways, Graphic Java 2 is a cookbook. You search the table of contents or index for a reference to the kind of problem you want to solve, then examine the author's examples for the solution (or at least some clues to it). This is the book to turn to if you're wondering how to implement the JComboBox.KeySelectionManager interface (which enables users to select items in a combo box) or compare the various ways of making the JTree component into a file browser. Those are just two of hundreds of examples in David Geary's book.
While most examples don't serve any practical purpose by themselves, they do clearly illustrate how a specific aspect of Swing works. It's easy to adapt the details presented here into your own programs. Geary shows consideration for the reader by presenting all his examples as programs that can be compiled and including them on the enclosed CD-ROM. --David Wall
From Sun Microsystems Press and Prentice Hall comes the definitive guide to Swing: an exhaustive reference spanning more than 1600 pages. Clearly and concisely written and loaded with illustrative code examples, Graphic Java provides the most comprehensive Swing coverage available.
Part I (360 pages) discusses fundamental Swing concepts such as Swing component architecture, the JComponent class, borders, icons, actions, Swing and multithreading, Swing utilities, and pluggable look and feel.
Swing components are the focus throughout the rest of the book. In addition to code examples that illustrate component use, components are further explored with class diagrams, property and event tables, and a look at AWT compatibility. The final third of the book is devoted to Swing's most complex components: lists, combo boxes, tables, trees, and the text package.
Comments