What are the differences between JRadioButton and JCheckBox in Java?

Both JRadioButton and JCheckBox components can extend JToggleButton class, the main difference is that JRadioButton is a group of buttons in which only one button can be selected at a time whereas JCheckBox is a group of checkboxes in which multiple items can be selected at a time.

JRadioButton

• A JRadioButton is a component that represents an item with a state selected or unselected. Usually, a group of radio buttons is created to provide options to the user, but only one option can be selected at a time.
• JRadioButton will generate an ActionListener, ChangeListener, and ItemListener interfaces.
• The radio buttons are often used in a group to display multiple options, therefore, they are used with ButtonGroup class. The ButtonGroup has a property that only one button in a group is selected at a given time and it does not have the visual appearance.
• The important methods of JRadioButton are setText(), getText(), setEnabled(),setMnemonic() and etc.

Example

import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class JRadioButtonTest extends JFrame {
   public JRadioButtonTest() {
      super("JRadioButton Test");
      JRadioButton jrb1 = new JRadioButton("Java");
      JRadioButton jrb2 = new JRadioButton("Python");
      JRadioButton jrb3 = new JRadioButton("Scala");
      ButtonGroup group = new ButtonGroup();
      group.add(jrb1);
      group.add(jrb2);
      group.add(jrb3);
      setLayout(new FlowLayout());
      add(jrb1);
      add(jrb2);
      add(jrb3);
      setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
      setSize(450,375);
      setLocationRelativeTo(null);
      setVisible(true);
   }
   public static void main(String[] args) {
      SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
         @Override
         public void run() {
            new JRadioButtonTest();
        }
      });
   }
}

Output

JCheckBox

• A JCheckBox is a component that represents an item which shows a state of selected or unselected. We can change this state by clicking on the checkbox of the component.
• A standard JCheckBox component contains a checkbox and a label that describes the purpose of the checkbox.
• A JCheckBox can generate either ItemListener or ActionListener interfaces.
• The important methods of JCheckBox are setLabel(), getLabel(), setState(), getState() and etc.

Example

import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class JCheckBoxTest extends JFrame {
   JCheckBoxTest() {
      super("JCheckBox Test");
      JLabel lblHobbies = new JLabel("Languages");
      JCheckBox chkSports = new JCheckBox("Java");
      JCheckBox chkMusic = new JCheckBox("Python ",true);
      JCheckBox chkReading = new JCheckBox("Scala");
      setLayout(new FlowLayout());
      add(lblHobbies);
      add(chkSports);
      add(chkMusic);
      add(chkReading);
      setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
      setSize(450,375);
      setLocationRelativeTo(null);
      setVisible(true);
   }
   public static void main(String[] args) {
      SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
         @Override
         public void run() {
            new JCheckBoxTest();
         }
      });
   }
}

Output