Did you know? DZone has great portals for Python, Cloud, NoSQL, and HTML5!

DesignGridLayout 0.9: Refactored Sources, Easier API, and Better Documentation

September 29, 2008 AT 11:55 AM
  • submit to reddit

DesignGridLayout is a simple but powerful Swing LayoutManager. It has several advantages over other LayoutManagers. The main ones are:

  • Good looking dialogs (alignment, spacing, sizing, visual balance): this is taken over by DesignGridLayout itself without any special hint from the developer
  • Reduced learning curve for developers, thanks to the fluent API which is, at the same time, simple, effective, compile-safe (no cryptic strings to express the layout) and IDE code-completion friendly
  • No graphics designer needed: the API is the graphical designer
  • Readability and maintainability: you can literally "visualize" the layout by browsing the code that sets it up; inserting a new row of components is done by inserting a new line of code in your layout setup code... 
  • Free: the project is open source and uses Apache License 2

Version 0.9 is the result of a complete refactoring of the project source code and brings an easier API, better documentation, fixes for all reported bugs. In addition, version 0.9 can now be downloaded from java.net maven 2 repository.

Although a few important enhancements are pending (planned for 1.0 version), DesignGridLayout is usable in production GUIs today, and really helps developers design dialogs that "just look right" the first time (no need for a painful and uneffective "try and fail"design approach).

Location: 
https://designgridlayout.dev.java.net/servlets/NewsItemView?newsItemID=6523
0

(Note: Opinions expressed in this article and its replies are the opinions of their respective authors and not those of DZone, Inc.)