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About the JFC and Swing

JFC is short for Java Foundation Classes, which encompass a group of features for building graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and adding rich graphics functionality and interactivity to Java applications. JFC was first announced at the 1997 JavaOne^SM developer conference. It is defined as containing the features shown in the table below.

Features of the Java Foundation Classes
Feature	Description
Swing GUI Components	Includes everything from buttons to split panes to tables.
Pluggable Look-and-Feel Support	Gives any program that uses Swing components a choice of look and feel. For example, the same program can use either the Java or the Windows look and feel. Many more look-and-feel packages are available from various sources. As of v1.4.2, the Java platform supports the GTK+ look and feel, which makes hundreds of existing look and feels available to Swing programs.
Accessibility API	Enables assistive technologies, such as screen readers and Braille displays, to get information from the user interface.
Java 2D API	Enables developers to easily incorporate high-quality 2D graphics, text, and images in applications and applets. Java 2D includes extensive APIs for generating and sending high-quality output to printing devices.
Drag-and-Drop Support	Provides the ability to drag and drop between Java applications and native applications.
Internationalization	Allows developers to build applications that can interact with users worldwide in their own languages and cultural conventions. With the input method framework developers can build applications that accept text in languages that use thousands of different characters, such as Japanese, Chinese, or Korean.

This trail concentrates on the Swing components. We help you choose the appropriate components for your GUI, tell you how to use them, and give you the background information you need to use them effectively. We also discuss other JFC features as they apply to Swing components.

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Version Note: "Swing" was the code name of the project that developed the new components. Although unofficial, it's frequently used to refer to the new components and related API. "Swing" is immortalized in the package names for the Swing API, which begin with javax.swing.

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Which Releases Contain the Swing API?

The short answer is that the Swing API has been included in the Java 2 platform, Standard Edition (J2SE^TM) since its initial release (1.2). You can also download the latest release from the Sun Microsystems Web site at: http://java.sun.com/j2se/.

This trail concentrates on the Swing API in the Java 2 platform, Standard Edition, v1.4.2. Except where noted, the code in this trail works, without change, with earlier J2SE releases. We also include notes about a few important changes expected in 1.5.

Which Releases Contain the Swing API?

The Swing API is powerful, flexible--and immense. In release 1.4 of the Java platform, the Swing API has 17 public packages:

javax.accessibility	javax.swing.plaf	javax.swing.text.html
javax.swing	javax.swing.plaf.basic	javax.swing.text.parser
javax.swing.border	javax.swing.plaf.metal	javax.swing.text.rtf
javax.swing.colorchooser	javax.swing.plaf.multi	javax.swing.tree
javax.swing.event	javax.swing.table	javax.swing.undo
javax.swing.filechooser	javax.swing.text

Fortunately, most programs use only a small subset of the API. This trail sorts out the API for you, giving you examples of common code and pointing you to methods and classes you're likely to need. Most of the code in this trail uses only one or two Swing packages:

• javax.swing
• javax.swing.event (not always required)

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