Pure JFC Swing [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

by Dr. Satyaraj Pantham (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
The most important part of the Java 2 (JDK 1.2) standard is its Swing user interface classes. Pure JFC Swing is a well-organized guide to all the new Swing components, and it includes clear programming examples. Besides a worthy overview of Swing development, this book provides over 300 pages of reference material on all Swing objects, properties, and methods.

The book begins with a guide to what's new in Swing, including its new interface components and pluggable look and feel. It continues with instructions on how to use Swing alongside traditional Abstract Window Toolkit (AWT) components. Clear examples, along with short commentary by the author, are the norm in Pure JFC Swing.

Next the book provides a blow-by-blow tour of Swing classes, from getting started with panels to events and basic and advanced Swing components. His explanation of Swing's Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture is particularly noteworthy, as are the examples for using such sophisticated Swing controls as JTable (for grids) and JTree (for tree controls). From simple to complex components, the author's code examples are just what you need to start using Swing effectively on your own.

The second half of the book contains a reference to all Swing objects and events, organized by package. (An extensive index lets you search easily for whatever topic you need.)

Though occasionally a little dry, this title is perfect for the intermediate or advanced JDK 1.1 developer who wants to master the latest in Swing functionality quickly. --Richard Dragan

From Library Journal
Cadenhead's Teach Yourself Java 2 in 24 Hours is a definite beginner's book, a self-tutorial in 24 one-hour chapters. The guides on networking, Threads (the ability of Java to multitask by allowing for multiple processes and actions at the same time), and Swing (a powerful Java interface package for visual design) are for advanced Java programmers but will fit well within most libraries.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 832 pages
• Publisher: Sams; illustrated edition edition (February 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0672314231
• ISBN-13: 978-0672314230
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,102,486 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice examples, Nice index, June 18, 2000

By	"javadmt" (Washington) - See all my reviews

I have 10 years C++ and OOD, but am new to Java. In the last 3 weeks, I have gotten the language down pretty well, but am still climbing the learning curve on Swing. I found the index confusing at first, but now I realize that it is quite powerful. It took me about 5 minutes of dedicated effort to figure the index and appendices out, but now I find it very useful (the confusion derives from the index's redundancy, but once you figure this out the redundancy can be used to advantage). Appendix A (JFC Swing Quick Reference) is really poorly laid out. It is 261 pages with nothing but "Appendix A" listed at the top of each page. I believe it is laid out by package. As such, the least they could do is put the package name at the top of each page or dictionary-style black markings along the edges of pages as in several O'Reilly texts. I recommend not starting with Appendix A; look to the index and let it tell you what page to jump to in Appendix A. I have 8 Java books that I purchased in the last 3 weeks; this one does something very helpful. The text descriptions of code samples are described with reference to specific code blocks, i.e., "snippet 1 does...", "snippet 2 does...". This is VERY helpful because if you scan a code sample, you are likely familiar with 90% of the code sample. With this text's format you can rapidly skip past the text descriptions for the code you already understand. I have found this EXTREMELY helpful (I waste a lot of time in a lot of books reading the same information over and over again). This is the first book outside of the O'Reilly series that I have found useful in my effort to learn Java. In sum, the value of this book (for me) derives from its presentation of the big picture on Swing. I don't need a book that goes into endless detail about specific methods and classes (I can get this from numerous reference sources...and I can learn this over time while developing). The value of this book comes from its ability to give you the big picture and train you on Swing-based design patterns and methodologies. I already know A LOT about GUI development, OOD, using foundation classes, etc...what I needed to learn was the "Swing way" of doing things. So, if you share my background, this book will be very useful.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Clear to-the-point examples of JFC classes, August 14, 1999

By	Justin Morgan "Programmer, Astronomer, Gadget... (Washington state, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a good book if you are looking for short, clear examples of how to use the major JFC classes in Java2/Swing. It doesn't go into detail for every minute aspect of JFC, but on the other hand, that makes all the important data on JFC that much easier to find...less arcane fluff to wade through!

If you are an experienced Java programmer and you want to quickly get up to speed with JFC, then this book is for you. If you are looking for a hand-holding tutorial for learning the Java language, look elsewhere. This book is for those with some Java language experience under their belt. (Put another way, if this book were a ski run, it would have a blue square sign. :-)

I recommend this book mostly for its 350-page JFC quick-start overview with examples. The low price makes it a good value too. The last half (API overview) is not quite as useful as the first half, but overall, I give it 4/5 stars.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars There are much better books out there., June 6, 2000

By	Vick Mukherjee (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews

While this book has a very good price, it is very lean on actual knowledge. The first part of the book goes through the Swing components and does a decent job reviewing the main features of each. This reading is extremely dry but focused.

It does include a discussion of the Swing delegate-UI model and some thoughts on MVC. A pleasant suprise, considering the javadoc nature of the book's reading.

The second half (400 pages!) of the book is just plain worthless. The javadoc generated information that comes with the Swing APIs is more useful.