Definitive Guide to Swing for Java 2, Second Edition (Paperback)

~ (Author) "HAVE YOU EVER TAKEN A LOOK AT the Swing libraries and been so overwhelmed at where to start that you simply gave up?..." (more)
Key Phrases: box layout, toggle buttons, color menu, String Table, Event Handling, Other Methods (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

<p> <ul> <li>Shows how to create graphical user interfaces with the 1.3 version of the Swing Component Set <li>Offers a clear treatment of the Model-View-Controller architecture <li>Demonstrates the creation and customization of reusable Swing Component extensions <li>Explores the Swing text and html package, and JFC drag-and-drop capabilities <li>Provides in-depth coverage of Jtree and Jtable </ul> <p>Completely updated for the 1.3 edition of the Java 2 Platform, the second edition of this widely praised book is the one-stop resource for serious Java developers. This book shows programmers those parts of the Swing Component Set they will use on a daily basis to create graphical user interfaces. You'll learn about the Model-View-Controller architecture that lies behind all Swing components, and you'll discover how to customize the components for specific environments. You'll be provided with custom editors and renderers for use with tables, trees, and list components. You'll also find an overview of the Swing architecture, event handling with the Swing Component Set, core Swing components, toggleable components, Swing menus and toolbars, borders, pop-ups and choosers, and more.

About the Author

John Zukowski is a freelance writer and strategic Java consultant for JZ Ventures, Inc.He is a Java columnist for Sun’s Java Developer Connection, IBM’s developerWorks, and JavaWorld. His latest books are <i>Java Collections</i> (Apress, 2001), <i>Definitive Guide to Swing for Java 2</i> (Apress, 2000), and <i>Mastering Java 1.4</i> (Sybex, 2002). He’s also the author of <i>Borland’s JBuilder: No Experience Required</i> (Sybex, 1997).

Product Details

• Paperback: 890 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 2nd edition (January 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 189311578X
• ISBN-13: 978-1893115781
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #150,143 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very useful and very manageable., November 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: John Zukowski's Definitive Guide to Swing for Java 2 with CD-ROM (Paperback)

Zukowski's book is the most up to date and covers what seems important - much more manageable then Geary and more up to date then Eckstein. (OK the *book* is Geary's Graphic Java but at 1600 pages it is more of a reference then something you'll want to read-it's just *too* big.) Of course,the best situation would be if there was a new edition of Core JFC -none of the code runs in that anymore although the changes needed aren't hard-I learned swing from that book!

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Definitive" is one word that comes to mind., May 15, 2000

By	Patrick Carroll "Winebibber. Java/JEE Develo... (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: John Zukowski's Definitive Guide to Swing for Java 2 with CD-ROM (Paperback)

I've been using his books since he published his "Teach Yourself JBuilder". The best parts of his work are: concrete code examples; clear, concise, and eminently readable writing; clear and easy to understand diagrams. I guess that pretty much covers the entire book, but then, *he's that good*.

I've got other books on Swing, and I'm starting to see the money I spent before this book as wasted (well, maybe not *wasted*, but you get the idea). As with a previous reader, I found the explanation of undo/redo particularly useful.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Sun's Documentation is Better, July 15, 2001

By A Customer

The goal of a programming book should be to make it easier to use the language or library. This book doesn't do that. There is no sorting of what is important and what isn't.

Chapter 3, for example, is a very muddled discussion of MVC, and only confuses the whole issue of the place of MVC in Swing. The UML diagrams throughout are not very informative, either.

I bought this book with the hopes that it would give me a big picture overview of swing, but instead it just gets lost in all the details. I finally bit the bullet and read Sun's Swing tutorials and documents, and found them much more informative. I wish I didn't have to read them on the computer screen.