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TABLE OF CONTENTS (HIDE)

Java Programming Tutorial

Programming Graphical User
Interface (GUI)

1. Introduction
2. Programming GUI with AWT
2.1 AWT Packages
2.2 Containers and Components
2.3 AWT Container Classes
2.4 AWT Component Classes
2.5 Example 1: AWTCounter
2.6 Example 2: AWTAccumulator

3. AWT Event-Handling
3.1 Revisit Example 1 AWTCounter
3.2 Revisit Example 2 AWTAccumulator

1. Introduction
So far, we have covered most of the basic constructs of Java and introduced the important
concept of Object-Oriented Programming (OOP). As discussed, OOP permits higher level of
abstraction than the traditional procedural-oriented languages (such as C and Pascal). OOP
lets you think in the problem space rather than the computer's bits and bytes and
instruction sequences. You can create high-level abstract data types called classes to mimic
real-life things and represent entities in the problem space. These classes are self-contained
and are reusable.
In this article, I shall show you how you can reuse the graphics classes provided in JDK for
constructing your own Graphical User Interface (GUI) applications. Writing your own
graphics classes (re-inventing the wheels) will take you many years! These graphics classes,
developed by expert programmers, are highly complex and involve many advanced Java
concepts. However, re-using them are not so difficult, if you follow the API documentation,
samples and templates provided.
I shall assume you have a good grasp of OOP, including inheritance and polymorphism
(otherwise, read the earlier articles). I will describe another important concept called nested
class (or inner class) in this article.
There are two sets of Java APIs for graphics programming: AWT (Abstract Windowing
Toolkit) and Swing.
1. AWT API was introduced in JDK 1.0. Most of the AWT components have become
obsolete and should be replaced by newer Swing components.
2. Swing API, a much more comprehensive set of graphics libraries that enhances the
AWT, was introduced as part of Java Foundation Classes (JFC) after the release of JDK
1.1. JFC consists of Swing, Java2D, Accessibility, Internationalization, and Pluggable
Look-and-Feel Support APIs. JFC was an add-on to JDK 1.1 but has been integrated
into core Java since JDK 1.2.
Other than AWT/Swing Graphics APIs provided in JDK, others have also provided Graphics
APIs that work with Java, such as Eclipse's Standard Widget Toolkit (SWT) (used in Eclipse),
Google Web Toolkit (GWT) (used in Android), 3D Graphics API such as Java bindings for
OpenGL (JOGL) and Java3D.
You need to check the JDK API specification (http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs
/api/index.html) for the AWT and Swing APIs while reading this chapter. The best online
reference for Graphics programming is the "Swing Tutorial" @ http://docs.oracle.com/javase
/tutorial/uiswing/. For advanced 2D graphics programming, read "Java 2D Tutorial" @
http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/2d/index.html.

3.3 Example 3: WindowEvent and

3.4 Example 4: MouseEvent and MouseListener

3.5 Example 5: MouseEvent and MouseMotionList

3.6 Example 6: KeyEvent and KeyListener

4. (Advanced) Observer Design Pattern

4.1 Example: Creating Your Own Event, Source and

5. Nested (Inner) Classes

5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4

Example 7: A Named Inner Class as Event Listen

Example 8: An Anonymous Inner Class as Event
Example 9: An Anonymous Inner Class for Each
Example 10: Using the Same Listener Instance f

6. (Advanced) More on Nested Classes

6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4

Static vs. Instance Nested Classes

Local Inner Class Defined Inside a Method
An Anonymous Inner Class
Example of Static Nested Class in JDK:

6.5 "Cannot refer to a non-final variable inside an in

6.6 Referencing Outer-class's "this

7. Event Listener's Adapter Classes

7.1 Example 11: WindowAdapter for
7.2 Other Event-Listener Adapter Classes

8. Layout Managers and Panel

8.1 FlowLayout
8.2 GridLayout
8.3 BorderLayout

8.4 Using Panels as Sub-Container to Organize Co

8.5 BoxLayout

9. (Advanced) Composite Design Pattern

10. Swing
10.1
10.2
10.3
10.4
10.5

Introduction
Swing's Features
Using Swing API
Swing Program Template
Swing Example 1: SwingCounter

10.6 Swing Example 2: SwingAccumulator

11. Using Visual GUI Builder - NetBeans/Eclipse

11.1 NetBeans

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11.2 Eclipse

2. Programming GUI with AWT

Java Graphics APIs - AWT and Swing - provide a huge set of reusable GUI components, such as button, text field, label, choice, panel
and frame for building GUI applications. You can simply reuse these classes rather than re-invent the wheels. I shall start with the AWT
classes before moving into Swing to give you a complete picture. I have to stress that AWT component classes are now obsoleted by
Swing's counterparts.

2.1 AWT Packages

AWT is huge! It consists of 12 packages (Swing is even bigger, with 18 packages as of JDK 1.7!). Fortunately, only 2 packages java.awt and java.awt.event - are commonly-used.
1. The java.awt package contains the core AWT graphics classes:
GUI Component classes (such as Button, TextField, and Label),
GUI Container classes (such as Frame, Panel, Dialog and ScrollPane),
Layout managers (such as FlowLayout, BorderLayout and GridLayout),
Custom graphics classes (such as Graphics, Color and Font).
2. The java.awt.event package supports event handling:
Event classes (such as ActionEvent, MouseEvent, KeyEvent and WindowEvent),
Event Listener Interfaces (such as ActionListener, MouseListener, KeyListener and WindowListener),
Event Listener Adapter classes (such as MouseAdapter, KeyAdapter, and WindowAdapter).
AWT provides a platform-independent and device-independent interface to develop graphic programs that runs on all platforms, such
as Windows, Mac, and Linux.

2.2 Containers and Components

There are two types of GUI
elements:
1. Component:
Components
are
elementary GUI entities
(such as Button, Label,
and TextField.)
2. Container:
Containers
(such as Frame, Panel
and Applet) are used to hold components in a specific layout (such as flow or grid). A container can also hold sub-containers.
GUI components are also called controls (Microsoft ActiveX Control), widgets (Eclipse's Standard Widget Toolkit, Google Web Toolkit),
which allow users to interact with (i.e., control) the application through these components (such as button-click and text-entry).
In the above figure, there are three containers: a Frame and two Panels. A Frame is the top-level container of an AWT program. A
Frame has a title bar (containing an icon, a title, and the minimize/maximize/close buttons), an optional menu bar and the content
display area. A Panel is a rectangular area used to group related GUI components in a certain layout. In the above figure, the top-level
Frame contains two Panels. There are five components: a Label (providing description), a TextField (for users to enter text), and
three Buttons (for user to trigger certain programmed actions).
In a GUI program, a component must be kept in a container. You need to identify a container to hold the components. Every container
has a method called add(Component c). A container (say aContainer) can invoke aContainer.add(aComponent) to add
aComponent into itself. For example,
Panel panel = new Panel();
// Panel is a Container
Button btn = new Button("Press"); // Button is a Component
panel.add(btn);
// The Panel Container adds a Button Component

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2.3 AWT Container Classes

Top-Level Containers: Frame, Dialog and Applet
Each GUI program has a top-level container. The commonly-used top-level containers in AWT are Frame, Dialog and Applet:
A Frame provides the "main window" for the
GUI application, which has a title bar
(containing an icon, a title, the minimize,
maximize/restore-down and close buttons),
an optional menu bar, and the content
display area. To write a GUI program, we
typically start with a subclass extending from
java.awt.Frame to inherit the main window
as follows:

import java.awt.Frame;

// Using Frame class in package java.awt

// A GUI program is written as a subclass of Frame - the top-level container

// This subclass inherits all properties from Frame, e.g., title, icon, buttons, content-pane
public class MyGUIProgram extends Frame {
// Constructor to setup the GUI components
public MyGUIProgram() { ...... }
// Other methods
......
......
// The entry main() method
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Invoke the constructor (to setup the GUI) by allocating an instance
new MyGUIProgram();
}
}

An AWT Dialog is a "pop-up window" used for interacting with the users. A
Dialog has a title-bar (containing an icon, a title and a close button) and a
content display area, as illustrated.
An AWT Applet (in package java.applet) is the top-level container for an
applet, which is a Java program running inside a browser. Applet will be
discussed in the later chapter.

Secondary Containers: Panel and ScrollPane

Secondary containers are placed inside a top-level container or another secondary container. AWT also provide these secondary
containers:
Panel: a rectangular box under a higher-level container, used to layout a set of related GUI components in pattern such as grid or
flow.
ScrollPane: provides automatic horizontal and/or vertical scrolling for a single child component.
others.

Hierarchy of the AWT Container Classes

The hierarchy of the AWT Container classes is as follows:

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As illustrated, each Container has a layout.

2.4 AWT Component Classes

AWT provides many ready-made and reusable GUI components. The frequently-used are: Button, TextField, Label, Checkbox,
CheckboxGroup (radio buttons), List, and Choice, as illustrated below.

AWT GUI Component: java.awt.Label

A java.awt.Label provides a text description message. Take note that
System.out.println() prints to the system console, not to the graphics
screen. You could use a Label to label another component (such as text field)
or provide a text description.
Check the JDK API specification for java.awt.Label.
Constructors
public Label(String strLabel, int alignment); // Construct a Label with the given text String, of the text alignment
public Label(String strLabel);
// Construct a Label with the given text String
public Label();
// Construct an initially empty Label

The Label class has three constructors:

1. The first constructor constructs a Label object with the given text string in the given alignment. Note that three static
constants Label.LEFT, Label.RIGHT, and Label.CENTER are defined in the class for you to specify the alignment (rather than
asking you to memorize arbitrary integer values).
2. The second constructor constructs a Label object with the given text string in default of left-aligned.
3. The third constructor constructs a Label object with an initially empty string. You could set the label text via the setText()
method later.
Constants
public static final LEFT;
public static final RIGHT;
public static final CENTER;

// Label.LEFT
// Label.RIGHT
// Label.CENTER

These three constants are defined for specifying the alignment of the Label's text.
Public Methods
// Examples
public String getText();
public void setText(String strLabel);

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public int getAlignment();

public void setAlignment(int alignment);

The getText() and setText() methods can be used to read and modify the Label's text. Similarly, the getAlignment() and
setAlignment() methods can be used to retrieve and modify the alignment of the text.

Constructing a Component and Adding the Component into a Container

Three steps are necessary to create and place a GUI component:
1. Declare the component with an identifier (name);
2. Construct the component by invoking an appropriate constructor via the new operator;
3. Identify the container (such as Frame or Panel) designed to hold this component. The container can then add this component
onto itself via aContainer.add(aComponent) method. Every container has a add(Component) method. Take note that it is the
container that actively and explicitly adds a component onto itself, instead of the other way.
Example
Label lblInput;
lblInput = new Label("Enter ID");
add(lblInput);
lblInput.setText("Enter password");
lblInput.getText();

//
//
//
//
//

Declare an Label instance called lblInput

Construct by invoking a constructor via the new operator
this.add(lblInput) - "this" is typically a subclass of Frame
Modify the Label's text string
Retrieve the Label's text string

An Anonymous Instance
You can create a Label without specifying an identifier, called anonymous instance. In the case, the Java compiler will assign an
anonymous identifier for the allocated object. You will not be able to reference an anonymous instance in your program after it is
created. This is usually alright for a Label instance as there is often no need to reference a Label after it is constructed.
Example
// Allocate an anonymous Label instance. "this" container adds the instance into itself.
// You CANNOT reference an anonymous instance to carry out further operations.
add(new Label("Enter Name: ", Label.RIGHT));
// Same as
Label lblXxx = new Label("Enter Name: ", Label.RIGHT)); // lblXxx assigned by compiler
add(lblXxx);

AWT GUI Component: java.awt.Button

A java.awt.Button is a GUI component that triggers a certain
programmed action upon clicking.

Constructors
public Button(String buttonLabel);
// Construct a Button with the given label
public Button();
// Construct a Button with empty label

The Button class has two constructors. The first constructor creates a Button object with the given label painted over the button. The
second constructor creates a Button object with no label.
Public Methods
public String getLabel();
// Get the label of this Button instance
public void setLabel(String buttonLabel);
// Set the label of this Button instance
public void setEnable(boolean enable);

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// Enable or disable this Button. Disabled Button cannot be clicked.

The getLabel() and setLabel() methods can be used to read the current label and modify the label of a button, respectively.
Note: The latest Swing's JButton replaces getLabel()/setLabel() with getText()/setText() to be consistent with all the
components. We will describe Swing later.
Event
Clicking a button fires a so-called ActionEvent and triggers a certain programmed action. I will explain event-handling later.
Example
Button btnColor = new Button("Red");
add(btnColor);
...
btnColor.setLabel("green");
btnColor.getLabel();
...
add(Button("Blue"));
// Create an

// Declare and allocate a Button instance called btnColor

// "this" Container adds the Button
// Change the button's label
// Read the button's label
anonymous Button. It CANNOT be referenced later

AWT GUI Component: java.awt.TextField

A java.awt.TextField is single-line text box for users to enter texts.
(There is a multiple-line text box called TextArea.) Hitting the "ENTER"
key on a TextField object triggers an action-event.

Constructors
public TextField(String strInitialText, int columns);
// Construct a TextField instance with the given initial text string with the number of columns.
public TextField(String strInitialText);
// Construct a TextField instance with the given initial text string.
public TextField(int columns);
// Construct a TextField instance with the number of columns.

Public Methods
public String getText();
// Get the current text on this TextField instance
public void setText(String strText);
// Set the display text on this TextField instance
public void setEditable(boolean editable);
// Set this TextField to editable (read/write) or non-editable (read-only)

Event
Hitting the "ENTER" key on a TextField fires a ActionEvent, and triggers a certain programmed action.
Example
TextField tfInput = new TextField(30); // Declare and allocate an TextField instance called tfInput
add(tfInput);
// "this" Container adds the TextField
TextField tfResult = new TextField(); // Declare and allocate an TextField instance called tfResult
tfResult.setEditable(false) ;
// Set to read-only
add(tfResult);
// "this" Container adds the TextField
......
// Read an int from TextField "tfInput", square it, and display on "tfResult".
// getText() returns a String, need to convert to int
int number = Integer.parseInt(tfInput.getText());
number *= number;
// setText() requires a String, need to convert the int number to String.
tfResult.setText(number + "");

Take note that getText()/SetText() operates on String. You can convert a String to a primitive, such as int or double via
static method Integer.parseInt() or Double.parseDouble(). To convert a primitive to a String, simply concatenate the

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primitive with an empty String.

2.5 Example 1: AWTCounter

Let's assemble some components together into a
simple GUI counter program, as illustrated. It has a
top-level container Frame, which contains three
components - a Label "Counter", a non-editable
TextField to display the current count, and a
"Count" Button. The TextField displays "0"
initially.
Each time you click the button, the counter's value
increases by 1.

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import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;

// Using AWT container and component classes

// Using AWT event classes and listener interfaces

// An AWT program inherits from the top-level container java.awt.Frame

public class AWTCounter extends Frame implements ActionListener {
private Label lblCount;
// Declare component Label
private TextField tfCount; // Declare component TextField
private Button btnCount;
// Declare component Button
private int count = 0;
// Counter's value
/** Constructor to setup GUI components and event handling */
public AWTCounter () {
setLayout(new FlowLayout());
// "super" Frame sets its layout to FlowLayout, which arranges the components
// from left-to-right, and flow to next row from top-to-bottom.
lblCount = new Label("Counter");
add(lblCount);

// construct Label
// "super" Frame adds Label

tfCount = new TextField("0", 10); // construct TextField

tfCount.setEditable(false);
// set to read-only
add(tfCount);
// "super" Frame adds tfCount
btnCount = new Button("Count");
add(btnCount);

// construct Button
// "super" Frame adds Button

btnCount.addActionListener(this);
// Clicking Button source fires ActionEvent
// btnCount registers this instance as ActionEvent listener
setTitle("AWT Counter");
setSize(250, 100);
//
//
//
//

System.out.println(this);
System.out.println(lblCount);
System.out.println(tfCount);
System.out.println(btnCount);

setVisible(true);
//
//
//
//

// "super" Frame sets title

// "super" Frame sets initial window size

// "super" Frame shows

System.out.println(this);
System.out.println(lblCount);
System.out.println(tfCount);
System.out.println(btnCount);

}
/** The entry main() method */
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Invoke the constructor to setup the GUI, by allocating an instance

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AWTCounter app = new AWTCounter();

}
/** ActionEvent handler - Called back upon button-click. */
@Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
++count; // increase the counter value
// Display the counter value on the TextField tfCount
tfCount.setText(count + ""); // convert int to String
}
}

To exit this program, you have to close the CMD-shell (or press "control-c" on the CMD console); or push the "red-square" close
button in Eclipse's Application Console. This is because we have yet to write the handler for the Frame's close button. We shall do that
in the later example.

Dissecting the AWTCounter.java

The import statements (Lines 1-2) are needed, as AWT container and component classes, such as Frame, Button, TextField, and
Label, are kept in the java.awt package; while AWT events and event-listener interfaces, such as ActionEvent and
ActionListener are kept in the java.awt.event package.
A GUI program needs a top-level container, and is often written as a subclass of Frame (Line 5). In other words, this class
AWTCounter is a Frame, and inherits all the attributes and behaviors of a Frame, such as the title bar and content pane.
Lines 12 to 34 define a constructor, which is used to setup and initialize the GUI components.
The setLayout() method (in Line 13) is invoked without an object and the dot operator, hence, defaulted to "this" object, i.e.,
this.setLayout(). The setLayout() is inherited from the superclass Frame and is used to set the layout of the components
inside the container Frame. FlowLayout is used in this example, which arranges the GUI components in left-to-right and flows into
next row in a top-to-bottom manner.
A Label, TextField (non-editable), and Button are constructed. "this" object (subclass of Frame container) adds these
components into it via add() inherited from the superclass Frame.
The setSize() and the setTitle() (Line 31-32) are used to set the initial size and the title of "this" Frame. The
setVisible(true) method (Line 39) is then invoked to show the display.
The statement btnCount.addActionListener(this) (Line 27) is used to setup the event-handling mechanism, which will be
discussed in length later. In brief, whenever the button is clicked, the actionPerformed() will be called. In the
actionPerformed() (Lines 54-59), the counter value increases by 1 and displayed on the TextField.
In the entry main() method (Lines 48-51), an instance of AWTCounter is constructed. The constructor is executed to initialize the
GUI components and setup the event-handling mechanism. The GUI program then waits for the user input.

Inspecting Container/Components via toString()

It is interesting to inspect the GUI objects via the toString(), to gain an insight to these classes. (Alternatively, use a graphic
debugger in Eclipse/NetBeans or study the JDK source code.) For example, if we insert the following code before and after the
setvisible():
System.out.println(this);
System.out.println(lblCount);
System.out.println(tfCount);
System.out.println(btnCount);
setVisible(true);

// "super" Frame shows

System.out.println(this);
System.out.println(lblCount);
System.out.println(tfCount);
System.out.println(btnCount);

The output (with my comments) are as follows. You could have an insight of the variables defined in the class.
// Before setVisible()
AWTCounter[frame0,0,0,250x100,invalid,hidden,layout=java.awt.FlowLayout,title=AWT Counter,resizable,normal]
// name (assigned by compiler) is "frame0"; top-left (x,y) at (0,0); width/height is 250x100 (via setSize());

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java.awt.Label[label0,0,0,0x0,invalid,align=left,text=Counter]
// name is "Label0"; align is "Label.LEFT" (default); text is "Counter" (assigned in contructor)
java.awt.TextField[textfield0,0,0,0x0,invalid,text=0,selection=0-0]
// name is "Textfield0"; text is "0" (assigned in contructor)
java.awt.Button[button0,0,0,0x0,invalid,label=Count]
// name is "button0"; label text is "Count" (assigned in contructor)
// Before setVisible(), all components are invalid (top-left (x,y), width/height are invalid)
// After setVisible(), all components are valid
AWTCounter[frame0,0,0,250x100,layout=java.awt.FlowLayout,title=AWT Counter,resizable,normal]
// valid and visible (not hidden)
java.awt.Label[label0,20,41,58x23,align=left,text=Counter]
// Top-left (x,y) at (20,41) relative to the parent Frame; width/height = 58x23
java.awt.TextField[textfield0,83,41,94x23,text=0,selection=0-0]
// Top-left (x,y) at (83,41) relative to the parent Frame; width/height = 94x23; no text selected (0-0)
java.awt.Button[button0,182,41,47x23,label=Count]
// Top-left (x,y) at (182,41) relative to the parent Frame; width/height = 47x23

2.6 Example 2: AWTAccumulator

In this example, the top-level container
is again the typical java.awt.Frame,
which contains 4 components: a Label
"Enter an Integer", a TextField for
accepting user input, another Label
"The Accumulated Sum is", and another
non-editable TextField for displaying
the sum. The components are arranged
in FlowLayout.
The program shall accumulate the
number entered into the input
TextField and display the sum in the output TextField.
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import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;

// Using AWT container and component classes

// Using AWT event classes and listener interfaces

// An AWT GUI program inherits from the top-level container java.awt.Frame

public class AWTAccumulator extends Frame implements ActionListener {
private Label lblInput;
// Declare input Label
private Label lblOutput;
// Declare output Label
private TextField tfInput; // Declare input TextField
private TextField tfOutput; // Declare output TextField
private int numberIn;
// Input number
private int sum = 0;
// Accumulated sum, init to 0
/** Constructor to setup the UI components and event handling */
public AWTAccumulator() {
setLayout(new FlowLayout());
// "super" Frame sets layout to FlowLayout, which arranges the components
// from left-to-right, and flow to next row from top-to-bottom.
lblInput = new Label("Enter an Integer: "); // Construct Label
add(lblInput);
// "super" Frame adds Label
tfInput = new TextField(10); // Construct TextField
add(tfInput);
// "super" Frame adds TextField
tfInput.addActionListener(this);
// Hitting Enter on TextField fires ActionEvent
// tfInput (TextField) registers this instance as ActionEvent listener
lblOutput = new Label("The Accumulated Sum is: "); // allocate Label
add(lblOutput);
// "super" Frame adds Label

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tfOutput = new TextField(10); // allocate TextField

tfOutput.setEditable(false); // read-only
add(tfOutput);
// "super" Frame adds TextField
setTitle("AWT Accumulator"); // "super" Frame sets title
setSize(350, 120); // "super" Frame sets initial window size
setVisible(true);
// "super" Frame shows
}
/** The entry main() method */
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Invoke the constructor to setup the GUI, by allocating an anonymous instance
new AWTAccumulator();
}
/** ActionEvent handler - Called back upon hitting enter key on TextField */
@Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
// Get the String entered into the TextField tfInput, convert to int
numberIn = Integer.parseInt(tfInput.getText());
sum += numberIn;
// Accumulate numbers entered into sum
tfInput.setText(""); // Clear input TextField
tfOutput.setText(sum + ""); // Display sum on the output TextField
// convert int to String
}
}

Dissecting the AWTAccumulator.java

1. An AWT GUI program extends from java.awt.Frame (Line 5) - the top-level window container.
2. In the constructor (Line 14), we constructs 4 components - 2 java.awt.Label and 2 java.awt.TextFields. The Frame adds the
components, in FlowLayout.
3. tfInput (TextField) is the source object, which fires an ActionEvent upon hitting the Enter key. tfInput adds this instance
as an ActionEvent handler (Line 25). The listener class (this or AWTAccumulator) needs to implement ActionListener
interface and provides implementation to method actionPerformed(). Whenever an user hits Enter on the tfInput
(TextField), the actionPerformed() will be invoked.

Inspecting Container/Components via toString()

Printing the toString() after setVisible() produces:
AWTAccumulator[frame0,0,0,350x120,layout=java.awt.FlowLayout,title=AWT Accumulator,resizable,normal]
java.awt.Label[label0,72,41,107x23,align=left,text=Enter an Integer: ]
java.awt.Label[label1,47,69,157x23,align=left,text=The Accumulated Sum is: ]
java.awt.TextField[textfield0,184,41,94x23,text=,editable,selection=0-0]
java.awt.TextField[textfield1,209,69,94x23,text=,selection=0-0]

3. AWT Event-Handling
Java adopts the so-called "Event-Driven" (or "Event-Delegation") programming model for event-handling, similar to most of the visual
programming languages (such as Visual Basic and Delphi).
In event-driven programming, a piece of event-handling codes is executed (or called back by the graphics subsystem) when an event
has been fired in response to an user input (such as clicking a mouse button or hitting the ENTER key). This is unlike the procedural
model, where codes are executed in a sequential manner.
The AWT's event-handling classes are kept in package java.awt.event.
Three objects are involved in the event-handling: a source, listener(s) and an event object.
The source object (such as Button and Textfield) interacts with the user. Upon triggered, it creates an event object. This event object
will be messaged to all the registered listener object(s), and an appropriate event-handler method of the listener(s) is called-back to
provide the response. In other words, triggering a source fires an event to all its listener(s), and invoke an appropriate handler of the
listener(s).

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To express interest for a certain source's event, the listener(s) must be registered with the source. In other words, the listener(s)
"subscribes" to a source's event, and the source "publishes" the event to all its subscribers upon activation. This is known as subscribepublish or observable-observer design pattern.

The sequence of steps is illustrated above:

1. The source object registers its listener(s) for a certain type of event.
Source object fires event event upon triggered. For example, clicking an Button fires an ActionEvent, mouse-click fires
MouseEvent, key-type fires KeyEvent, etc.
How the source and listener understand each other? The answer is via an agreed-upon interface. For example, if a source is
capable of firing an event called XxxEvent (e.g., MouseEvent) involving various operational modes (e.g., mouse-clicked, mouseentered, mouse-exited, mouse-pressed, and mouse-released). Firstly, we need to declare an interface called XxxListener (e.g.,
MouseListener) containing the names of the handler methods. Recall that an interface contains only abstract methods
without implementation. For example,
// A MouseListener interface, which declares the
// for the various operational modes.
public interface MouseListener {
public void mousePressed(MouseEvent evt); //
public void mouseReleased(MouseEvent evt); //
public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent evt); //
public void mouseEntered(MouseEvent evt); //
public void mouseExited(MouseEvent evt);
//
}

signature of the handlers

Called
Called
Called
Called
Called

back
back
back
back
back

upon
upon
upon
when
when

mouse-button pressed
mouse-button released
mouse-button clicked (pressed and released)
mouse pointer entered the component
mouse pointer exited the component

Secondly, all the listeners interested in the XxxEvent must implement the XxxListener interface. That is, the listeners must
provide their own implementations (i.e., programmed responses) to all the abstract methods declared in the XxxListener
interface. In this way, the listenser(s) can response to these events appropriately. For example,
// An example of MouseListener, which provides implementation to the handler methods
class MyMouseListener implement MouseListener {
@Override
public void mousePressed(MouseEvent e) {
System.out.println("Mouse-button pressed!");
}
@Override
public void mouseReleased(MouseEvent e) {
System.out.println("Mouse-button released!");
}
@Override
public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent e) {
System.out.println("Mouse-button clicked (pressed and released)!");

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}
@Override
public void mouseEntered(MouseEvent e) {
System.out.println("Mouse-pointer entered the source component!");
}
@Override
public void mouseExited(MouseEvent e)
{
System.out.println("Mouse exited-pointer the source component!");
}
}

Thirdly, in the source, we need to maintain a list of listener object(s), and define two methods: addXxxListener() and
removeXxxListener() to add and remove a listener from this list. The signature of the methods are:
public void addXxxListener(XxxListener l);
public void removeXxxListener(XxxListener l);

Take note that all the listener(s) interested in the XxxEvent must implement the XxxListener interface. That is, they are
sub-type of the XxxListener. Hence, they can be upcasted to XxxListener and passed as the argument of the above methods.
In summary, we identify the source, the event-listener interface, and the listener object. The listener must implement the eventlistener interface. The source object then registers listener object via the addXxxListener() method:
aSource.addXxxListener(alistener);

// aSource registers aListener for XxxEvent

2. The source is triggered by a user.

3. The source create an XxxEvent object, which encapsulates the necessary information about the activation. For example, the (x,
y) position of the mouse pointer, the text entered, etc.
4. Finally, for each of the listeners in the listener list, the source invokes the appropriate handler on the listener(s), which provides
the programmed response.
In brief, triggering a source fires an event to all its registered listeners, and invoke an appropriate handler of the listener.

3.1 Revisit Example 1 AWTCounter: ActionEvent and ActionListener Interface

Clicking a Button (or hitting the "Enter" key on a TextField) fires an ActionEvent to all its ActionEvent listener(s). An ActionEvent
listener must implement ActionListener interface, which declares one abstract method actionPerformed() as follow:
public interface ActionListener {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e);
// Called back upon button-click (on Button), enter-key pressed (on TextField)
}

Here are the event-handling steps:

We identify btnCount (Button) as the source object.
Clicking Button fires an ActionEvent to all its ActionEvent listener(s).
The listener(s) is required to implement ActionListener interface, and override the actionPerformed() method to provide the
response. For simplicity, we choose "this" object (AWTCounter) as the listener for the ActionEvent. Hence, "this" class is
required to implement ActionListener interface and provide the programmed response in the actionPerformed().
public class AWTCounter extends Frame implements ActionListener {
// "this" is chosen as the ActionEvent listener, hence, it is required
// to implement ActionListener interface
......
// Implementing ActionListener interface requires this class to provide implementation
// to the abstract method actionPerformed() declared in the interface.
@Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
// Programmed response upon activation
// Increment the count value and display on the TextField
++count;

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tfCount.setText(count + "");
}
}

The source object registers listener via the addActionListener(). In this example, the source btnCount (Button) adds "this"
object as a listener via:
btnCount.addActionListener(this);

Note that addActionListener() takes an argument of the type ActionListener. "this", which implements ActionListener
interface (i.e., a subclass of ActionListener), is upcasted and passed to the addActionListener() method.
Upon button-click, the btnCount creates an ActionEvent object, and calls back the actionPerformed(ActionEvent) method of
all its registered listener(s) with the ActionEvent object created:
ActionEvent evt = new ActionEvent( ...... );
listener.actionPerformed(evt);
// for all its listener(s)

The sequence diagram is as follows:

3.2 Revisit Example 2 AWTAccumulator: ActionEvent and ActionListener Interface

In this example,
1. We identify the tfInput (TextField) as the source object.
2. Hitting the "Enter" key on a TextField fires an ActionEvent to all its ActionEvent listener(s).
3. We choose this object as the ActionEvent listener (for simplicity).
4. The source object tfInput (TextField) registers the listener (this object) via the tfInput.addActionListener(this).

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5. The ActionEvent listener (this class) is required to implement the ActionListener interface, and override the
actionPerformed() method to provide the programmed response upon activation.

3.3 Example 3: WindowEvent and WindowListener Interface

A WindowEvent is fired (to all
its

WindowEvent

listeners)

when a window (e.g., Frame)

has
been
opened/closed,
activated/deactivated,
iconified/deiconified via the 3
buttons at the top-right corner
or other means. The source of
WindowEvent shall be a top-level window-container such as Frame.
A WindowEvent listener must implement WindowListener interface, which declares 7 abstract event-handling methods, as follows.
Among them, the windowClosing(), which is called back upon clicking the window-close button, is the most commonly-used.
public void windowClosing(WindowEvent e)
// Called-back when the user attempts to close the window by clicking the window close button.
// This is the most-frequently used handler.
public void windowOpened(WindowEvent e)
// Called-back the first time a window is made visible.
public void windowClosed(WindowEvent e)
// Called-back when a window has been closed as the result of calling dispose on the window.
public void windowActivated(WindowEvent e)
// Called-back when the Window is set to be the active Window.
public void windowDeactivated(WindowEvent e)
// Called-back when a Window is no longer the active Window.
public void windowIconified(WindowEvent e)
// Called-back when a window is changed from a normal to a minimized state.
public void windowDeiconified(WindowEvent e)
// Called-back when a window is changed from a minimized to a normal state.

The following program added support for "close-window button" to Example 1: AWTCounter.
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import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;

// Using AWT containers and components

// Using AWT events and listener interfaces

// An AWT GUI program inherits the top-level container java.awt.Frame

public class WindowEventDemo extends Frame
implements ActionListener, WindowListener {
// This class acts as listener for ActionEvent and WindowEvent
// Java supports only single inheritance, where a class can extend
// one superclass, but can implement multiple interfaces.
private TextField tfCount;
private Button btnCount;
private int count = 0; // Counter's value
/** Constructor to setup the UI components and event handling */
public WindowEventDemo() {
setLayout(new FlowLayout()); // "super" Frame sets to FlowLayout
add(new Label("Counter"));

// "super" Frame adds an anonymous Label

tfCount = new TextField("0", 10); // Allocate TextField

tfCount.setEditable(false);
// read-only
add(tfCount);
// "super" Frame adds tfCount
btnCount = new Button("Count");
add(btnCount);

// Declare and allocate a Button

// "super" Frame adds btnCount

btnCount.addActionListener(this);
// btnCount fires ActionEvent to its registered ActionEvent listener

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// btnCount adds "this" object as an ActionEvent listener

addWindowListener(this);
// "super" Frame fires WindowEvent to its registered WindowEvent listener
// "super" Frame adds "this" object as a WindowEvent listener
setTitle("WindowEvent Demo"); // "super" Frame sets title
setSize(250, 100);
// "super" Frame sets initial size
setVisible(true);
// "super" Frame shows
}
/** The entry main() method */
public static void main(String[] args) {
new WindowEventDemo(); // Let the construct do the job
}
/** ActionEvent handler */
@Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
++count;
tfCount.setText(count + "");
}
/** WindowEvent handlers */
// Called back upon clicking close-window button
@Override
public void windowClosing(WindowEvent e) {
System.exit(0); // Terminate the program
}
// Not Used, but need to provide an empty body
@Override
public void windowOpened(WindowEvent e) { }
@Override
public void windowClosed(WindowEvent e) { }
@Override
public void windowIconified(WindowEvent e) { }
@Override
public void windowDeiconified(WindowEvent e) { }
@Override
public void windowActivated(WindowEvent e) { }
@Override
public void windowDeactivated(WindowEvent e) { }
}

In this example, we shall modify the earlier AWTCounter example to handle the WindowEvent. Recall that pushing the "close-window"
button on the AWTCounter has no effect, as it did not handle the WindowEvent of windowClosing(). We included the WindowEvent
handling codes in this example.
1. We identify super Frame as the source object.
2. The Frame fires the WindowEvent to all its registered WindowEvent listener(s).
3. We select this object as the WindowEvent listener (for simplicity)
4. We register this object as the WindowEvent listener to the source Frame via method addWindowListener(this).
5. The WindowEvent listener (this class) is required to implement the WindowListener interface, which declares 7 abstract
methods:

windowOpened(),

windowClosed(),

windowClosing(),

windowActivated(),

windowDeactivated(),

windowIconified() and windowDeiconified().

6. We override the windowClosing() handler to terminate the program using System.exit(0). We ignore the other 6 handlers,
but required to provide an empty body.
The sequence diagram is as follow:

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3.4 Example 4: MouseEvent and MouseListener Interface

A MouseEvent is fired to all its registered listeners, when you press, release, or click (press followed by release) a mouse-button (left or
right button) at the source object; or position the mouse-pointer at (enter) and away (exit) from the source object.
A MouseEvent listener must implement the MouseListener interface, which declares the following five abstract methods:
public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent e)
// Called-back when the mouse-button has been clicked (pressed followed by released) on the source.
public void mousePressed(MouseEvent e)
public void mouseReleased(MouseEvent e)
// Called-back when a mouse-button has been pressed/released on the source.
// A mouse-click invokes mousePressed(), mouseReleased() and mouseClicked().
public void mouseEntered(MouseEvent e)
public void mouseExited(MouseEvent e)
// Called-back when the mouse-pointer has entered/exited the source.

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import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.MouseEvent;
import java.awt.event.MouseListener;
public class MouseEventDemo extends Frame implements MouseListener {
// Private variables
private TextField tfMouseX; // to display mouse-click-x
private TextField tfMouseY; // to display mouse-click-y
// Constructor - Setup the UI
public MouseEventDemo() {
setLayout(new FlowLayout()); // "super" frame sets layout
// Label
add(new Label("X-Click: ")); // "super" frame adds component
// TextField
tfMouseX = new TextField(10); // 10 columns
tfMouseX.setEditable(false); // read-only
add(tfMouseX);
// "super" frame adds component
// Label

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add(new Label("Y-Click: ")); // "super" frame adds component

// TextField
tfMouseY = new TextField(10);
tfMouseY.setEditable(false); // read-only
add(tfMouseY);
// "super" frame adds component
addMouseListener(this);
// "super" frame fires the MouseEvent
// "super" frame adds "this" object as MouseEvent listener
setTitle("MouseEvent Demo"); // "super" Frame sets title
setSize(350, 100);
// "super" Frame sets initial size
setVisible(true);
// "super" Frame shows
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
new MouseEventDemo(); // Let the constructor do the job
}
// MouseEvent handlers
@Override
public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent e) {
tfMouseX.setText(e.getX() + "");
tfMouseY.setText(e.getY() + "");
}
@Override
public void
@Override
public void
@Override
public void
@Override
public void

mousePressed(MouseEvent e) { }
mouseReleased(MouseEvent e) { }
mouseEntered(MouseEvent e) { }
mouseExited(MouseEvent e) { }

In this example, we setup a GUI with 4 components (two Labels and two non-editable TextFields), inside a top-level container
Frame, arranged in FlowLayout.
To demonstrate the MouseEvent:
1. We identity super Frame as the source object.
2. The Frame fires a MouseEvent to all its MouseEvent listener(s) when you click/press/release a mouse-button or enter/exit with
the mouse-pointer.
3. We select this object as the MouseEvent listener (for simplicity).
4. We register this object as the MouseEvent listener to super Frame (source) via the method addMouseListener(this).
5. The listener (this class) is required to implement the MouseListener interface, which declares 5 abstract methods:
mouseClicked(), mousePressed(), mouseReleased(), mouseEntered(), and mouseExit(). We override the mouseClicked()
to display the (x, y) co-ordinates of the mouse click on the two displayed TextFields. We ignore all the other handlers (for
simplicity - but you need to provide an empty body for compilation).

Try: Include a WindowListener to handle the close-window button.

3.5 Example 5: MouseEvent and MouseMotionListener Interface

A MouseEvent is also fired when you moved and dragged the mouse pointer at the source object. But you need to use
MouseMotionListener to handle the mouse-move and mouse-drag. The MouseMotionListener interface declares the following two
abstract methods:
public void mouseDragged(MouseEvent e)
// Called-back when a mouse-button is pressed on the source component and then dragged.
public void mouseMoved(MouseEvent e)
// Called-back when the mouse-pointer has been moved onto the source component but no buttons have been pushed.

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import
import
import
import

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java.awt.*;
java.awt.event.MouseEvent;
java.awt.event.MouseListener;
java.awt.event.MouseMotionListener;

// An AWT GUI program inherits from the top-level container java.awt.Frame

public class MouseMotionDemo extends Frame
implements MouseListener, MouseMotionListener {
// This class acts as MouseListener and MouseMotionListener
// To display the
private TextField
private TextField
// To display the
private TextField
private TextField

(x, y) coordinates of the mouse-clicked

tfMouseClickX;
tfMouseClickY;
(x, y) coordinates of the current mouse-pointer position
tfMousePositionX;
tfMousePositionY;

/** Constructor to setup the GUI */

public MouseMotionDemo() {
setLayout(new FlowLayout()); // "this" frame sets to FlowLayout
add(new Label("X-Click: "));
tfMouseClickX = new TextField(10);
tfMouseClickX.setEditable(false);
add(tfMouseClickX);
add(new Label("Y-Click: "));
tfMouseClickY = new TextField(10);
tfMouseClickY.setEditable(false);
add(tfMouseClickY);
add(new Label("X-Position: "));
tfMousePositionX = new TextField(10);
tfMousePositionX.setEditable(false);
add(tfMousePositionX);
add(new Label("Y-Position: "));
tfMousePositionY = new TextField(10);
tfMousePositionY.setEditable(false);
add(tfMousePositionY);
addMouseListener(this);
addMouseMotionListener(this);
// "super" frame fires MouseEvent to all its registered MouseListener and MouseMotionListener
// "super" frame adds "this" object as MouseListener and MouseMotionListener
setTitle("MouseMotion Demo"); // "super" Frame sets title
setSize(400, 120);
// "super" Frame sets initial size
setVisible(true);
// "super" Frame shows
}
/** The entry main() method */
public static void main(String[] args) {
new MouseMotionDemo(); // Let the constructor do the job
}
/** MouseListener handlers */
// Called back when a mouse-button has been clicked
@Override
public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent e) {
tfMouseClickX.setText(e.getX() + "");
tfMouseClickY.setText(e.getY() + "");

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}
// Not Used, but need to provide an empty body for compilation
@Override
public void mousePressed(MouseEvent e) { }
@Override
public void mouseReleased(MouseEvent e) { }
@Override
public void mouseEntered(MouseEvent e) { }
@Override
public void mouseExited(MouseEvent e) { }
/** MouseMotionEvent handlers */
// Called back when the mouse-pointer has been moved
@Override
public void mouseMoved(MouseEvent e) {
tfMousePositionX.setText(e.getX() + "");
tfMousePositionY.setText(e.getY() + "");
}
// Not Used, but need to provide an empty body for compilation
@Override
public void mouseDragged(MouseEvent e) { }
}

In this example, we shall illustrate both the MouseListener and MouseMotionListener.

1. We identify super Frame as the source, which fires the MouseEvent to its registered MouseListener and
MouseMotionListener.
2. We select this object as the MouseListener and MouseMotionListner (for simplicity).
3. We

register

this

object

as

the

listener

to

super

Frame

via

method

addMouseListener(this)

and

addMouseMotionListener(this).
4. The MouseMotionListener (this class) needs to implement 2 abstract methods: mouseMoved() and mouseDragged() declared
in the MouseMotionListener interface.
5. We override the mouseMoved() to display the (x, y) position of the mouse pointer. We ignore the MouseDragged() handler by
providing an empty body for compilation.

Try: Include a WindowListener to handle the close-window button.

3.6 Example 6: KeyEvent and KeyListener Interface

A KeyEvent is fired (to all its registered KeyListeners) when you pressed, released, and typed (pressed followed by released) a key on
the source object. A KeyEvent listener must implement KeyListener interface, which declares three abstract methods:
public void keyTyped(KeyEvent e)
// Called-back when a key has been typed (pressed and released).
public void keyPressed(KeyEvent e)
public void keyReleased(KeyEvent e)
// Called-back when a key has been pressed/released.

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import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.KeyEvent;
import java.awt.event.KeyListener;
// An AWT GUI program inherits from the top-level container java.awt.Frame
public class KeyEventDemo extends Frame implements KeyListener {
// This class acts as KeyEvent Listener
private TextField tfInput; // single-line TextField to receive tfInput key
private TextArea taDisplay; // multi-line TextArea to taDisplay result
/** Constructor to setup the GUI */
public KeyEventDemo() {
setLayout(new FlowLayout()); // "super" frame sets to FlowLayout
add(new Label("Enter Text: "));
tfInput = new TextField(10);
add(tfInput);
taDisplay = new TextArea(5, 40); // 5 rows, 40 columns
add(taDisplay);
tfInput.addKeyListener(this);
// tfInput TextField fires KeyEvent to its registered KeyListeners
// tfInput adds "this" object as a KeyEvent listener
setTitle("KeyEvent Demo"); // "super" Frame sets title
setSize(400, 200);
// "super" Frame sets initial size
setVisible(true);
// "super" Frame shows
}
/** The entry main() method */
public static void main(String[] args) {
new KeyEventDemo(); // Let the constructor do the job
}
/** KeyEvent handlers */
// Called back when a key has been typed (pressed and released)
@Override
public void keyTyped(KeyEvent e) {
taDisplay.append("You have typed " + e.getKeyChar() + "\n");
}
// Not Used, but need to provide an empty body for compilation
@Override
public void keyPressed(KeyEvent e) { }
@Override
public void keyReleased(KeyEvent e) { }
}

In this example:
1. We identify the tfInput (TextField) as the source object.
2. The source fires a KeyEvent when you press/release/type a key to all its KeyEvent listener(s).
3. We select this object as the KeyEvent listener.
4. We register this object as the KeyEvent listener to the source TextField via method input.addKeyListener(this).
5. The KeyEvent listener (this class) needs to implement the KeyListener interface, which declares 3 abstract methods:
keyTyped(), keyPressed(), keyReleased().
6. We override the keyTyped() to display key typed on the display TextArea. We ignore the keyPressed() and keyReleased().

4. (Advanced) Observer Design Pattern

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The Observer design pattern (aka Publish-Subscribe or Observable-Observer) is one of the 23 GoF's design patterns. Whenever the
source's state changes, it notifies all its registered listener.
The source and listener are bound via the interface XxxListener, which defines a set of handlers. The source maintain a list of
registered

listeners,

and

two

methods:

addXxxListener() and

removeXxxListener().

Both

addXxxListener()

and

removeXxxListener() takes an argument of XxxListener. Hence, a listener object must implement XxxListener in order to be
registered. Whenever the source's state changes, it invokes a particular handler of all the registered listeners. The interface guarantees
the existence of such handler in the listener.

4.1 Example: Creating Your Own Event, Source and Listener

Suppose that we have a source called Light, with two states - on and off. The source is capable of notifying its registered listener(s),
whenever its state changes.
First, we define the LightEvent class (extends from java.util.EventObject).
Next, we define a LightListener interface to bind the source and its listeners. This interface specifies the signature of the
handlers, lightOn(LightEvent) and lightOff(LightEvent).
In the source Light, we use an ArrayList to maintain its listeners, and create two methods: addLightListner(LightListener)
and removeLightListener(LightListener). An method called notifyListener() is written to invoke the appropriate
handlers of each of its registered listeners, whenever the state of the Light changes.
A listener class called LightWatcher is written, which implements the LightListener interface and provides implementation for
the handlers.

Event: LightEvent.java
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/** LightEvent */
import java.util.EventObject;
public class LightEvent extends EventObject {
public LightEvent (Object src) {
super(src);
}
}

Listener Interface: LightListener.java

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/** The LightListener interface */

import java.util.EventListener;
public interface LightListener extends EventListener {
public void lightOn(LightEvent evt); // called-back upon light on
public void lightOff(LightEvent evt); // called-back upon light off
}

Source: Light.java
1

/** The Light Source */

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import java.util.*;
public class Light {
// Status - on (true) or off (false)
private boolean on;
// Listener list
private List<LightListener> listeners = new ArrayList<LightListener>();
/** Constructor */
public Light() {
on = false;
System.out.println("Light: constructed and off");
}
/** Add the given LightListener */
public void addLightListener(LightListener listener) {
listeners.add(listener);
System.out.println("Light: added a listener");
}
/** Remove the given LightListener */
public void removeLightListener(LightListener listener) {
listeners.remove(listener);
System.out.println("Light: removed a listener");
}
/** Turn on this light */
public void turnOn() {
if (!on) {
on = !on;
System.out.println("Light: turn on");
notifyListener();
}
}
/** Turn off this light */
public void turnOff() {
if (on) {
on = !on;
System.out.println("Light: turn off");
notifyListener();
}
}
/** Construct an LightEvent and notify all its registered listeners */
private void notifyListener() {
LightEvent evt = new LightEvent(this);
for (LightListener listener : listeners) {
if (on) {
listener.lightOn(evt);
} else {
listener.lightOff(evt);
}
}
}
}

Listener: LightWatcher.java
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/** An implementation of LightListener class */

public class LightWatcher implements LightListener {
private int id; // ID of this listener
/** Constructor */
public LightWatcher(int id) {
this.id = id;
System.out.println("LightWatcher-" + id + ": created");
}

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/** Implementation of event handlers */

@Override
public void lightOn(LightEvent evt) {
System.out.println("LightWatcher-" + id
+ ": I am notified that light is on");
}
@Override
public void lightOff(LightEvent evt) {
System.out.println("LightWatcher-" + id
+ ": I am notified that light is off");
}
}

A Test Driver: TestLight.java

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/** A Test Driver */

public class TestLight {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Light light = new Light();
LightWatcher lw1 = new LightWatcher(1);
LightWatcher lw2 = new LightWatcher(2);
LightWatcher lw3 = new LightWatcher(3);
light.addLightListener(lw1);
light.addLightListener(lw2);
light.turnOn();
light.addLightListener(lw3);
light.turnOff();
light.removeLightListener(lw1);
light.removeLightListener(lw3);
light.turnOn();
}
}

Below are the expected output:

Light: constructed and off
LightWatcher-1: created
LightWatcher-2: created
LightWatcher-3: created
Light: added a listener
Light: added a listener
Light: turn on
LightWatcher-1: I am notified
LightWatcher-2: I am notified
Light: added a listener
Light: turn off
LightWatcher-1: I am notified
LightWatcher-2: I am notified
LightWatcher-3: I am notified
Light: removed a listener
Light: removed a listener
Light: turn on
LightWatcher-2: I am notified

that light is on
that light is on

that light is off

that light is off
that light is off

that light is on

5. Nested (Inner) Classes

A nested class (or commonly called inner class) is a class defined inside another class - introduced in JDK 1.1. As an illustration, two
nested classes MyNestedClass1 and MyNestedClass2 are defined inside the definition of an outer class called MyOuterClass.
public class MyOuterClass {
// outer class defined here
......
private class MyNestedClass1 { ... } // an nested class defined inside the outer class
public static class MyNestedClass2 { ... } // an "static" nested class defined inside the outer class
......

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A nested class has these properties:

1. A nested class is a proper class. That is, it could contain constructors, member variables and member methods. You can create an
instance of a nested class via the new operator and constructor.
2. A nested class is a member of the outer class, just like any member variables and methods defined inside a class.
3. Most importantly, a nested class can access the private members (variables/methods) of the enclosing outer class, as it is at the
same level as these private members. This is the property that makes inner class useful.
4. A nested class can have private, public, protected, or the default access, just like any member variables and methods defined
inside a class. A private inner class is only accessible by the enclosing outer class, and is not accessible by any other classes. [An
top-level outer class cannot be declared private, as no one can use a private outer class.]
5. A nested class can also be declared static, final or abstract, just like any ordinary class.
6. A nested class is NOT a subclass of the outer class. That is, the nested class does not inherit the variables and methods of the
outer class. It is an ordinary self-contained class. [Nonetheless, you could declare it as a subclass of the outer class, via keyword
"extends OuterClassName", in the nested class's definition.]
The usages of nested class are:
1. To control visibilities (of the member variables and methods) between inner/outer class. The nested class, being defined inside an
outer class, can access private members of the outer class.
2. To place a piece of class definition codes closer to where it is going to be used, to make the program clearer and easier to
understand.
3. For namespace management.

5.1 Example 7: A Named Inner Class as Event Listener

A nested class is useful if you need a small class which relies on the enclosing outer class for its private variables and methods. It is
ideal in an event-driven environment for implementing event handlers. This is because the event handling methods (in a listener) often
require access to the private variables (e.g., a private TextField) of the outer class.
In this example (modified from Example 1 AWTCounter), instead of using "this" as the ActionEvent listener for the Button, we define
a new class called BtnCountListener, and create an instance of BtnCountListener as the ActionEvent listener for the btnCount.
The BtnCountListener needs to implement the ActionListener interface, and override the actionPerformed() handler. Since
"this" is no long a ActionListener, we remove the "implements ActionListener" from "this" class's definition.
BtnCountListener needs to be defined as an inner class, as it needs to access private variables (count and tfCount) of the outer
class.
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import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
// An AWT GUI program inherits from the top-level container java.awt.Frame
public class AWTCounterNamedInnerClass extends Frame {
// This class is NOT a ActionListener, hence, it does not implement ActionListener
// The event-handler actionPerformed() needs to access these "private" variables
private TextField tfCount;
private int count = 0;
/** Constructor to setup the GUI */
public AWTCounterNamedInnerClass () {
setLayout(new FlowLayout()); // "super" Frame sets to FlowLayout
add(new Label("Counter"));
// anonymous instance of Label
tfCount = new TextField("0", 10);
tfCount.setEditable(false);
// read-only
add(tfCount);
// "super" Frame adds tfCount
Button btnCount = new Button("Count");
add(btnCount);
// "super" Frame adds btnCount
// Construct an anonymous instance of BtnCountListener (a named inner class).

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// btnCount adds this instance as a ActionListener.

btnCount.addActionListener(new BtnCountListener());
setTitle("AWT Counter");
setSize(250, 100);
setVisible(true);
}
/** The entry main method */
public static void main(String[] args) {
new AWTCounterNamedInnerClass(); // Let the constructor do the job
}
/**
* BtnCountListener is a "named inner class" used as ActionListener.
* This inner class can access private variables of the outer class.
*/
private class BtnCountListener implements ActionListener {
@Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
++count;
tfCount.setText(count + "");
}
}
}

Dissecting the Program

An inner class named BtnCountListener is used as the ActionListner.
An anonymous instance of the BtnCountListener inner class is constructed. The btnCount source object adds this instance as a
listener, as follows:
btnCount.addActionListener(new BtnCountListener());

The inner class can access the private variable tfCount and count of the outer class.
Since "this" is no longer a listener, we remove the "implements ActionListener" from this class' definition.
The

inner

class

is

compiled

into

AWTCount$BtnCountListener.class,

in

the

format

of

OuterClassName$InnerClassName.class.

Using an Ordinary (Outer) Class as Listener

Try moving the BtnCountListener class outside, and define it as an ordinary class. You would need to pass a reference of the
AWTConnter into the constructor of BtnCountListener, and use this reference to access variables tfCount and count, through
public getters or granting them to public access.
// An ordinary outer class used as ActionListener for the Button
public class BtnCountListener implements ActionListener {
AWTCounter frame;
public BtnCountListener(AWTCounter frame) {
this.frame = frame;
}
@Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
frame.count++;
frame.tfCount.setText(frame.count + "");
}
}

This code is messy!

5.2 Example 8: An Anonymous Inner Class as Event Listener

Instead of using a named inner class (called BtnCountListner in the previous example), we shall use an inner class without a name,
known as anonymous inner class as the ActionListener in this example.

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import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
// An AWT GUI program inherits from the top-level container java.awt.Frame
public class AWTCounterAnonymousInnerClass extends Frame {
// This class is NOT a ActionListener, hence, it does not implement ActionListener
// The event-handler actionPerformed() needs to access these private variables
private TextField tfCount;
private int count = 0;
/** Constructor to setup the GUI */
public AWTCounterAnonymousInnerClass () {
setLayout(new FlowLayout()); // "super" Frame sets to FlowLayout
add(new Label("Counter"));
// an anonymous instance of Label
tfCount = new TextField("0", 10);
tfCount.setEditable(false);
// read-only
add(tfCount);
// "super" Frame adds tfCount
Button btnCount = new Button("Count");
add(btnCount);
// "super" Frame adds btnCount
// Construct an anonymous instance of an anonymous class.
// btnCount adds this instance as a ActionListener.
btnCount.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
@Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
++count;
tfCount.setText(count + "");
}
});
setTitle("AWT Counter");
setSize(250, 100);
setVisible(true);
}
/** The entry main method */
public static void main(String[] args) {
new AWTCounterAnonymousInnerClass(); // Let the constructor do the job
}
}

Dissecting the Program

Again, "this" class is NOT used as the ActionEvent listener. Hence, we remove the "implements ActionListener" from this
class' definition.
The anonymous inner class is given a name generated by the compiler, and compiled into OuterClassName$n.class, where n is a
running number of the inner classes of this outer class.
An anonymous instance of an anonymous inner class is constructed, and passed as the argument of the addActionListener()
method as follows:
btnCount.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
@Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
++count;
tfCount.setText(count + "");
}
});

The above codes is equivalent to and compiled as:

private class N implements ActionListener { // N is a running number of the inner classes created
@Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
++count;

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tfCount.setText(count + "");
}
}
btnCount.addActionListener(new N());
// Or
N n = new N()
btnCount.addActionListener(n);

The above codes create an anonymous instance of an anonymous inner class, and pass it as the argument for a method. You can
also create a named instance of an anonymous inner class, for example,
// Create an named instance called drawPanel of an anonymous class extends JPanel
// Upcast to superclass
JPanel drawPanel = new JPanel() {
@Override
public void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
......
}
}
// same as
class N extends JPanel {
@Override
public void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
......
}
}
JPanel drawPanel = new N(); // upcast

Properties of Anonymous Inner Class

1. The anonymous inner class is define inside a method, instead of a member of the outer class (class member). It is local to the
method and cannot be marked with access modifier (such as public, private) or static, just like any local variable of a
method.
2. An anonymous inner class must always extend a superclass or implement an interface. The keyword "extends" or "implements"
is NOT required in its declaration. An anonymous inner class must implement all the abstract methods in the superclass or in the
interface.
3. An anonymous inner class always uses the default (no-arg) constructor from its superclass to create an instance. If an anonymous
inner class implements an interface, it uses the java.lang.Object().
4. An anonymous inner class is compiled into a class named OuterClassName$n.class, where n is a running number of inner
classes within the outer class.
5. An instance of an anonymous inner class is constructed via this syntax:
new SuperClassName/InterfaceName() {

// extends superclass or implements interface

// invoke the default no-arg constructor or Object[]
// Implement abstract methods in superclass/interface
// More methods if necessary
......

The created instance can be assigned to a variable or used as an argument of a method.

5.3 Example 9: An Anonymous Inner Class for Each Source

Let's modify our AWTCounter example to include 3 buttons for counting up,
counting down, and reset the count, respectively. We shall attach an
anonymous inner class as the listener to each of buttons.

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import java.awt.event.*;

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// An AWT GUI program inherits the top-level container java.awt.Frame

public class AWTCounter3Buttons extends Frame {
private TextField tfCount;
private int count = 0;
/** Constructor to setup the GUI */
public AWTCounter3Buttons () {
setLayout(new FlowLayout());
add(new Label("Counter"));
// an anonymous instance of Label
tfCount = new TextField("0", 10);
tfCount.setEditable(false); // read-only
add(tfCount);
// "super" Frame adds tfCount
Button btnCountUp = new Button("Count Up");
add(btnCountUp);
// Construct an anonymous instance of an anonymous inner class.
// The source Button adds the anonymous instance as ActionEvent listener
btnCountUp.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
@Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
++count;
tfCount.setText(count + "");
}
});
Button btnCountDown = new Button("Count Down");
add(btnCountDown);
btnCountDown.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
@Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
count--;
tfCount.setText(count + "");
}
});
Button btnReset = new Button("Reset");
add(btnReset);
btnReset.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
@Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
count = 0;
tfCount.setText("0");
}
});
setTitle("AWT Counter");
setSize(400, 100);
setVisible(true);
}
/** The entry main method */
public static void main(String[] args) {
new AWTCounter3Buttons(); // Let the constructor do the job
}
}

Dissecting the Program

1. Each of the Buttons uses an anonymous instance of an anonymous inner class as its ActionEvent listener.

5.4 Example 10: Using the Same Listener Instance for All the Buttons
If you use the same instance as the listener for the 3 buttons, you need to determine which button has fired the event. It is because all
the 3 buttons trigger the same event-handler method.

Using ActionEvent's getActionCommand()

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In the following example, we use the same instance of a named inner class as the listener for all the 3 buttons. The listener needs to
determine which button has fired the event. This can be accomplished via the ActionEvent's getActionCommonad() method, which
returns the button's label.
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import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
// An AWT GUI program inherits the top-level container java.awt.Frame
public class AWTCounter3Buttons1Listener extends Frame {
private TextField tfCount;
private int count = 0;
/** Constructor to setup the GUI */
public AWTCounter3Buttons1Listener () {
setLayout(new FlowLayout());
add(new Label("Counter"));
tfCount = new TextField("0", 10);
tfCount.setEditable(false);
add(tfCount);
// Create buttons
Button btnCountUp = new Button("Count Up");
add(btnCountUp);
Button btnCountDown = new Button("Count Down");
add(btnCountDown);
Button btnReset = new Button("Reset");
add(btnReset);
// Allocate an instance of inner class BtnListener.
BtnListener listener = new BtnListener();
// Use the same listener to all the 3 buttons.
btnCountUp.addActionListener(listener);
btnCountDown.addActionListener(listener);
btnReset.addActionListener(listener);
setTitle("AWT Counter");
setSize(400, 100);
setVisible(true);
}
/** The entry main method */
public static void main(String[] args) {
new AWTCounter3Buttons1Listener(); // Let the constructor do the job
}
/**
* BtnListener is a named inner class used as ActionEvent listener for the buttons.
*/
private class BtnListener implements ActionListener {
@Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
// Need to determine which button has fired the event.
// getActionCommand() returns the button's label
String btnLabel = e.getActionCommand();
if (btnLabel.equals("Count Up")) {
++count;
} else if (btnLabel.equals("Count Down")) {
--count;
} else {
count = 0;
}
tfCount.setText(count + "");
}
}
}

Using getSource() of EventObject

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Besides the getActionCommand(), which is only available for ActionEvent, you can use the getSource() method, which is available
to all event objects, to retrieve a reference to the source object that has fired the event. getSource() returns a java.lang.Object.
You may need to downcast it to the proper type of the source object. For example,
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import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
public class AWTCounter3ButtonsGetSource extends Frame {
private TextField tfCount;
private Button btnCountUp, btnCountDown, btnReset;
private int count = 0;
/** Constructor to setup the GUI */
public AWTCounter3ButtonsGetSource () {
setLayout(new FlowLayout());
add(new Label("Counter"));
tfCount = new TextField("0", 10);
tfCount.setEditable(false);
add(tfCount);
// Create buttons
btnCountUp = new Button("Count Up");
add(btnCountUp);
btnCountDown = new Button("Count Down");
add(btnCountDown);
btnReset = new Button("Reset");
add(btnReset);
// Allocate an instance of inner class BtnListener.
BtnListener listener = new BtnListener();
// Use the same listener to all the 3 buttons.
btnCountUp.addActionListener(listener);
btnCountDown.addActionListener(listener);
btnReset.addActionListener(listener);
setTitle("AWT Counter");
setSize(400, 100);
setVisible(true);
}
/** The entry main method */
public static void main(String[] args) {
new AWTCounter3ButtonsGetSource(); // Let the constructor do the job
}
/**
* BtnListener is a named inner class used as ActionEvent listener for the buttons.
*/
private class BtnListener implements ActionListener {
@Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
// Need to determine which button has fired the event.
Button source = (Button)e.getSource();
// Get a reference of the source that has fired the event.
// getSource() returns a java.lang.Object. Downcast back to Button.
if (source == btnCountUp) {
++count;
} else if (source == btnCountDown) {
--count;
} else {
count = 0;
}
tfCount.setText(count + "");
}
}
}

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6. (Advanced) More on Nested Classes

There are 4 types of nested classes:
1. static nested class (as a outer class member),
2. non-static (instance) inner class (as a outer class member),
3. local inner class (defined inside a method),
4. anonymous local inner class (defined inside a method).

6.1 Static vs. Instance Nested Classes

A nested class can be declared static (belonging to the class instead of an instance). Recall that a static member can be used
without instantiating the class and can be referenced via the classname in the form of Classname.memberName (e.g., Math.PI,
Integer.parseInt()). Similarly, a static nested class can be used without instantiating the outer class and can be referenced via
OuterClassName.InnerClassName.
On the other hand, a non-static nested class belongs to an instance of the outer class, just like any instance variable or method. It
can be referenced via outerClassInstanceName.innerClassInstanceName. A non-static nested class is formally called an inner
class.

Example of non-static (instance) inner class

In this example, a non-static (instance) inner class called MyInnerClass is defined inside the outer class. The inner class can access
private members (variables/methods) of the outer class. This outer class also declares and constructs an instance of inner class as its
member variable.
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public class MyOuterClassWithInnerClass {

// Private member variable of the outer class
private String msgOuter = "Hello from outer class";
// Define an inner class as a member of the outer class
// This is merely an definition.
// Not instantiation takes place when an instance of outer class is constructed
public class MyInnerClass {
// Private variable of the inner class
private String msgInner;
// Constructor of the inner class
public MyInnerClass(String msgInner) {
this.msgInner = msgInner;
System.out.println("Constructing an inner class instance: " + msgOuter);
// can access private member variable of outer class
}
// A method of inner class
public void printMessage() {
System.out.println(msgInner);
}
}
// Declare and construct an instance of the inner class, inside the outer class
MyInnerClass anInner = new MyInnerClass("Hi from inner class");
}

Two class files are produced: MyOuterClassWithInnerClass.class and MyOuterClassWithInnerClass$MyInnerClass.class.

The following test program:
1. Allocates an instance of outer class, which implicitly allocates an inner class (called anInner) as its member variable. You can
access this inner class via outerClassInstanceName.innerClassInstanceName.
2. Explicitly constructs another instance of the inner class, under the same outer class instance created in the previous step.
3. Explicitly constructs one more instance of the inner class, under a new instance of outer class. This new outer class instance also
implicitly allocates an inner class instance as its member, as seen from the output.

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public class TestInnerClass {

public static void main(String[] args) {
// Construct an instance of outer class, which create anInner
MyOuterClassWithInnerClass anOuter = new MyOuterClassWithInnerClass();
// Invoke inner class's method from this outer class instance
anOuter.anInner.printMessage();
// Explicitly construct another instance of inner class
MyOuterClassWithInnerClass.MyInnerClass inner2
= anOuter.new MyInnerClass("Inner class 2");
inner2.printMessage();
// Explicitly construct an instance of inner class, under another instance of outer class
MyOuterClassWithInnerClass.MyInnerClass inner3
= new MyOuterClassWithInnerClass().new MyInnerClass("Inner class 3");
inner3.printMessage();
}
}

Constructing an inner
Hi from inner class
Constructing an inner
Inner class 2
Constructing an inner
Constructing an inner
Inner class 3

class instance: Hello from outer class

class instance: Hello from outer class
class instance: Hello from outer class
class instance: Hello from outer class

An inner class definition is merely a definition of a class. The outer class does not create an inner class instance, when it is instantiated.
Nonetheless, you could declare it as member of the outer class, as illustrated in the above example. In many situations, we declare the
inner class private. In this cases, the inner class can only be used (declare and construct) within the outer class.
You can set the inner class to private access. In this case, the inner class can only be accessed within the outer class, and not by other
classes.

Example of static nested class

In this example, a static nested class is defined inside the outer class, which can access the private static variables of the outer
class.
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public class MyOuterClassWithStaticNestedClass {

// Private "static" member variable of the outer class
private static String msgOuter = "Hello from outer class";
// Define a "static" nested class as a member of the outer class
// It can access private "static" variable of the outer class
public static class MyStaticNestedClass {
// Private variable of inner class
private String msgInner;
// Constructor of inner class
public MyStaticNestedClass(String msgInner) {
this.msgInner = msgInner;
System.out.println(msgOuter); // access private member of the outer class
}
// A method of inner class
public void printMessage() {
System.out.println(msgInner);
}
}
}

You can access the static nested class via the outer classname, in the form of OuterClassName.NestedClassName, just like any
static variables/methods (e.g., Math.PI, Integer.parseInt()). You can instantiate a static nested class without instantiate the
outer class, as static members are associated with the class, instead of instances.
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public class TestStaticNestedClass {

public static void main(String[] args) {
// Construct an instance of static nested class

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// A "static" nested class, like other "static" members, can be accessed via
// the Classname.membername
MyOuterClassWithStaticNestedClass.MyStaticNestedClass aNestedInner =
new MyOuterClassWithStaticNestedClass.MyStaticNestedClass("Hi from inner class");
aNestedInner.printMessage();
}
}

Hello from outer class

Hi from inner class

As

seen

from

the

example,

static

nested

class

is

really

like

top-level

class

with

modified

name

(OuterClassname.InnerClassname). It can be used as an extension to package for namespace management.

6.2 Local Inner Class Defined Inside a Method

Java allows you to define an inner class inside a method, just like defining a method's local variable. Like local variable, a local inner
class does not exist until the method is invoked, and goes out of scope when the method exits.
A local inner class has these properties:
1. A local inner class cannot have access modifier (such as private or public). It also cannot be declared static.
2. A local inner class can access all the variables/methods of the enclosing outer class.
3. A local inner class can have access to the local variables of the enclosing method only if they are declared final (to prevent
undesirable side-effects).

Example
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public class MyOuterClassWithLocalInnerClass {

// Private member variable of the outer class
private String msgOuter = "Hello from outer class";
// A member method of the outer class
public void doSomething() {
// A local variable of the method
final String msgMethod = "Hello from method";
// Define a local inner class inside the method
class MyInnerClass {
// Private variable of the inner class
private String msgInner;
// Constructor of the inner class
public MyInnerClass(String msgInner) {
this.msgInner = msgInner;
System.out.println("Constructing an inner class instance: " + msgOuter);
// can access private member variable of outer class
System.out.println("Accessing final variable of the method: " + msgMethod);
// can access final variable of the method
}
// A method of inner class
public void printMessage() {
System.out.println(msgInner);
}
}
// Create an instance of inner class and invoke its method
MyInnerClass anInner = new MyInnerClass("Hi, from inner class");
anInner.printMessage();
}
// Test main() method
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Create an instance of the outer class and invoke the method.
new MyOuterClassWithLocalInnerClass().doSomething();
}

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Constructing an inner class instance: Hello from outer class

Accessing final variable of the method: Hello from method
Hi, from inner class

6.3 An Anonymous Inner Class

An anonymous inner class is a local inner class (of a method) without assigning an explicit classname. It must either "extends" an
existing superclass or "implements" an interface. It is declared and instantiated in one statement via the new keyword.

Example
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public class MyOuterClassWithAnonymousInnerClass {

// Private member variable of the outer class
private String msgOuter = "Hello from outer class";
// A member method of the
public void doSomething()
// A local variable of
final String msgMethod

outer class
{
the method
= "Hello from method";

Thread thread = new Thread() { // create an instance of an anonymous inner class that extends Thread class
@Override
public void run() {
System.out.println("Constructing an inner class instance: " + msgOuter);
// can access private member variable of outer class
System.out.println("Accessing final variable of the method: " + msgMethod);
// can access final variable of the method
System.out.println("Hi, from inner class!");
}
};
thread.start();
}
// Test main() method
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Create an instance of the outer class and invoke the method.
new MyOuterClassWithAnonymousInnerClass().doSomething();
}
}

Constructing an inner class instance: Hello from outer class

Accessing final variable of the method: Hello from method
Hi, from inner class

The anonymous inner class definition is equivalent to:

public void doSomething()
......
class OuterClassName.n extends Thread {
......
}
Thread thread = new OuterClassName.n();
......
}

// where n is a running number of anonymous inner classes

// create an instance of the anonymous inner class

Clearly, you can only create one instance for each anonymous inner class.

6.4 Example of Static Nested Class in JDK: Point2D, Point2D.Double, Point2D.Float,

Point
The abstract class Point2D (in package java.awt.geom of Java 2D API), which models a 2D point, declares abstract methods such
as getX() and getY(). The Point2D cannot be instantiated. Point2D does not define any instance variable, in particular, the x and y
location of the point. This is because it is not sure about the type of x and y (which could be int, float, or double). The instance

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variables, therefore, are left to the implementation subclasses.

Three subclasses were implemented for types of int, float and double, respectively. Point2D cannot be designed as a pure abstractmethod-only interface, as it contains non-abstract methods.
The subclass Point defines instance variables x and y in int precision and provides implementation to abstract methods such as
getX() and getY(). Point (of int-precision) is a straight-forward implementation of inheritance and polymorphism. Point is a
legacy class (since JDK 1.1) and retrofitted when Java 2D was introduced.
Two subclasses Point2D.Float and Point2D.Double define instance variables x and y in float and double precision, respectively.
These two subclasses, are also declared as public static nested class of the outer class Point2D. Since they are static, they can be
referenced as Point2D.Double and Point2D.Float. They are implemented as nested static subclasses within the Point2D outer
class to keep the codes together and for namespace management. There is no access-control (of private variables of the outer class)
involved.
package java.awt.geom;
abstract public class Point2D

// abstract methods
abstract public double getX();
abstract public double getY();
abstract public void setLocation(double x, double y);
public double distance(double x, double y) { ... }
public double distance(Point2D p) { ... }
public static double distance(double x1, double y1, double x2, double y2) { ... }
......
public static class Double extends Point2D {
public double x;
public double y;
public Double(double x, double y) { ... }
@Override public double getX() { return x; }
@Override public double getY() { return y; }
@Override public void setLocation(double x, double y) { ... }
......
}
public static class Float extends Point2D {
public float x;
public float y;
public Double(float x, float y) { ... }
@Override public double getX() { ... }
@Override public double getY() { ... }
@Override public void setLocation(double x, double y) { ... }
public void setLocation(float x, float y) { ... }
......
}
}
package java.awt.geom;
public class Point extends Point2D {
public int x;
public int y;
public Point(int x, int y) { ... }
@Override public double getX() { return x; }
@Override public double getY() { return y; }
@Override public void setLocation(double x, double y) { ... }
......
}

Point2D.Double and Point2D.Float are public static classes. In other words, they can be used directly without instantiating the
outer class, just like any static variable or method (which can be referenced directly via the classname, e.g., Math.PI, Math.sqrt()
and Integer.parseInt()). Since they are subclass of Point2D, they can be upcast to Point2D.
Point2D.Double p1 = new Point2D.Double(1.1, 2.2);

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Point2D.Float p2 = new Point2D.Float(1.1f, 2.2f);

Point p3 = new Point(1, 2);
// Using polymorphism
Point2D p1 = new Point2D.Double(1.1, 2.2);
// upcast
Point2D p2 = new Point2D.Float(1.1f, 2.2f); // upcast
Point2D p3 = new Point(1, 2);
// upcast

Note: These classes were designed before the introduction of generic in JDK 1.5, which supports the passing of type as argument.

6.5 "Cannot refer to a non-final variable inside an inner class defined in a different
method"
Java specification 8.1.3: "Any local variable, formal method parameter or exception handler parameter used but not declared in an
inner class must be declared final."
By allowing inner class to access non-final local variables inside a method, the local variable could be modified by the inner class, and
causes a strange side-effect.
Solution:
1. Declare the variable final if permissible.
2. Declare the variable outside the method, e.g., as member variables of the class, instead of a local variable within a method. Both
the method and the inner class could access the variable.
3. Use a wrapper class to wrap the variable inside a class. Declare the instance final.

6.6 Referencing Outer-class's "this" from Inner-class

Inside the inner class, "this" refers to the inner class. To refer to the "this" of the outer class, use "OuterClassName.this". But you
can reference outer class's members directly without this clumsy syntax. For example,
......
public class MyOuterClassName {
private String msg = "Hello";
......
public MyOuterClassName() { // constructor
......
Button btn = new Button("TEST");
btn.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
@Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
// Need OuterClassName.this to refer to the outer class.
// But can reference outer class members (e.g., msg) directly.
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(MyOuterClassName.this, msg);
}
});
}
}

7. Event Listener's Adapter Classes

7.1 Example 11: WindowAdapter for WindowListener
Refer to the WindowEventDemo, a WindowEvent listener is required to implement the WindowListener interface, which declares 7
abstract methods. Although we are only interested in windowClosing(), we need to provide an empty body to the other 6 methods
in order to compile the program. This is tedious. For example, we can rewrite the WindowEventDemo using an inner class implementing
ActionListener as follows:
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import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
// An AWT GUI program inherits the top-level container java.awt.Frame

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public class WindowEventDemoWithInnerClass extends Frame {

private TextField tfCount;
private int count = 0;
/** Constructor to setup the GUI */
public WindowEventDemoWithInnerClass () {
setLayout(new FlowLayout());
add(new Label("Counter"));
tfCount = new TextField("0", 10);
tfCount.setEditable(false);
add(tfCount);
Button btnCount = new Button("Count");
add(btnCount);
btnCount.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
@Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
++count;
tfCount.setText(count + "");
}
});
// Allocate an anonymous instance of an anonymous inner class
// that implements WindowListener.
// "this" Frame adds the instance as WindowEvent listener.
addWindowListener(new WindowListener() {
@Override
public void windowClosing(WindowEvent e) {
System.exit(0); // terminate the program
}
// Need to provide an empty body for compilation
@Override public void windowOpened(WindowEvent e) { }
@Override public void windowClosed(WindowEvent e) { }
@Override public void windowIconified(WindowEvent e) { }
@Override public void windowDeiconified(WindowEvent e) { }
@Override public void windowActivated(WindowEvent e) { }
@Override public void windowDeactivated(WindowEvent e) { }
});
setTitle("WindowEvent Demo");
setSize(250, 100);
setVisible(true);
}
/** The entry main method */
public static void main(String[] args) {
new WindowEventDemoWithInnerClass();
}

// Let the constructor do the job

An adapter class called WindowAdapter is therefore provided, which implements the WindowListener interface and provides default
implementations to all the 7 abstract methods. You can then derive a subclass from WindowAdapter and override only methods of
interest and leave the rest to their default implementation. For example,
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import java.awt.event.*;
// An AWT GUI program inherits the top-level container java.awt.Frame
public class WindowEventDemoAdapter extends Frame {
private TextField tfCount;
private int count = 0;
/** Constructor to setup the GUI */
public WindowEventDemoAdapter () {
setLayout(new FlowLayout());
add(new Label("Counter"));
tfCount = new TextField("0", 10);
tfCount.setEditable(false);

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add(tfCount);
Button btnCount = new Button("Count");
add(btnCount);
btnCount.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
@Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
++count;
tfCount.setText(count + "");
}
});
// Allocate an anonymous instance of an anonymous inner class
// that extends WindowAdapter.
// "this" Frame adds the instance as WindowEvent listener.
addWindowListener(new WindowAdapter() {
@Override
public void windowClosing(WindowEvent e) {
System.exit(0); // Terminate the program
}
});
setTitle("WindowEvent Demo");
setSize(250, 100);
setVisible(true);
}
/** The entry main method */
public static void main(String[] args) {
new WindowEventDemoAdapter();
// Let the constructor do the job
}
}

7.2 Other Event-Listener Adapter Classes

Similarly, adapter classes such as MouseAdapter,

MouseMotionAdapter, KeyAdapter, FocusAdapter are available for

MouseListener, MouseMotionListener, KeyListener, and FocusListener, respectively.

There is no ActionAdapter for ActionListener, because there is only one abstract method (i.e. actionPerformed()) declared in
the ActionListener interface. This method has to be overridden and there is no need for an adapter.

8. Layout Managers and Panel

A container has a so-called layout manager to arrange its components. The layout managers provide a level of abstraction to map your
user interface on all windowing systems, so that the layout can be platform-independent.
AWT provides the following layout managers (in package java.awt): FlowLayout, GridLayout, BorderLayout, GridBagLayout,
BoxLayout, CardLayout, and others. (Swing added more layout manager in package javax.swing, to be described later.)

Container's setLayout()
A container has a setLayout() method to set its layout manager:
// java.awt.Container
public void setLayout(LayoutManager mgr)

To set up the layout of a Container (such as Frame, JFrame, Panel, or JPanel), you have to:
1. Construct an instance of the chosen layout object, via new and constructor, e.g., new FlowLayout())
2. Invoke the setLayout() method of the Container, with the layout object created as the argument;
3. Place the GUI components into the Container using the add() method in the correct order; or into the correct zones.
For example,
// Allocate a Panel (container)

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Panel p = new Panel();

// Allocate a new Layout object. The Panel container sets to this layout.
p.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
// The Panel container adds components in the proper order.
p.add(new JLabel("One"));
p.add(new JLabel("Two"));
p.add(new JLabel("Three"));
......

Container's getLayout()
You can get the current layout via Container's getLayout().
Panel awtPanel = new Panel();
System.out.println(awtPanel.getLayout());
// java.awt.FlowLayout[hgap=5,vgap=5,align=center]

Panel's Initial Layout

Panel (and Swing's JPanel) provides a constructor to set its initial layout manager. It is because a primary function of Panel is to
layout a group of component in a particular layout.
public void Panel (LayoutManager layout)
// Construct a Panel in the given layout
// By default, Panel (and JPanel) has FlowLayout
// For example, create a Panel in BorderLayout
Panel mainPanel = new Panel(new BorderLayout());

8.1 FlowLayout
In the java.awt.FlowLayout, components are arranged from left-to-right inside the
container
in
the
order
that
they
are
added
(via
method
aContainer.add(aComponent)). When one row is filled, a new row will be started.
The actual appearance depends on the width of the display window.

Constructors
public FlowLayout();
public FlowLayout(int align);
public FlowLayout(int align, int hgap, int vgap);
// align: FlowLayout.LEFT (or LEADING), FlowLayout.RIGHT (or TRAILING), or FlowLayout.CENTER
// hgap, vgap: horizontal/vertical gap between the components
// By default: hgap=5, vgap=5, align=CENTER

Example
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import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
// An AWT GUI program inherits the top-level container java.awt.Frame
public class AWTFlowLayoutDemo extends Frame {
private Button btn1, btn2, btn3, btn4, btn5, btn6;
/** Constructor to setup GUI components */
public AWTFlowLayoutDemo () {
setLayout(new FlowLayout());
// "this" Frame sets layout to FlowLayout, which arranges the components
// from left-to-right, and flow from top-to-bottom.
btn1 = new Button("Button 1");

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add(btn1);
btn2 = new
add(btn2);
btn3 = new
add(btn3);
btn4 = new
add(btn4);
btn5 = new
add(btn5);
btn6 = new
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Button("This is Button 2");

Button("3");
Button("Another Button 4");
Button("Button 5");
Button("One More Button 6");

setTitle("FlowLayout Demo"); // "this" Frame sets title

setSize(280, 150);
// "this" Frame sets initial size
setVisible(true);
// "this" Frame shows
}
/** The entry main() method */
public static void main(String[] args) {
new AWTFlowLayoutDemo(); // Let the constructor do the job
}
}

8.2 GridLayout
In java.awt.GridLayout, components are arranged in a grid (matrix) of rows and
columns inside the Container. Components are added in a left-to-right, top-tobottom
manner
in
the
order
aContainer.add(aComponent)).

they

are

added

(via

method

Constructors
public GridLayout(int rows, int columns);
public GridLayout(int rows, int columns, int hgap, int vgap);
// By default: rows=1, cols=0, hgap=0, vgap=0

Example
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import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
// An AWT GUI program inherits the top-level container java.awt.Frame
public class AWTGridLayoutDemo extends Frame {
private Button btn1, btn2, btn3, btn4, btn5, btn6;
/** Constructor to setup GUI components */
public AWTGridLayoutDemo () {
setLayout(new GridLayout(3, 2, 3, 3));
// "this" Frame sets layout to 3x2 GridLayout, horizontal and verical gaps of 3 pixels
// The components are added from left-to-right, top-to-bottom
btn1 = new Button("Button 1");
add(btn1);
btn2 = new Button("This is Button 2");
add(btn2);
btn3 = new Button("3");
add(btn3);
btn4 = new Button("Another Button 4");
add(btn4);
btn5 = new Button("Button 5");
add(btn5);
btn6 = new Button("One More Button 6");
add(btn6);

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setTitle("GridLayout Demo"); // "this" Frame sets title

setSize(280, 150);
// "this" Frame sets initial size
setVisible(true);
// "this" Frame shows
}
/** The entry main() method */
public static void main(String[] args) {
new AWTGridLayoutDemo(); // Let the constructor do the job
}
}

If rows or cols is 0, but not both, then any number of components can be placed in that column or row. If both the rows and cols are
specified, the cols value is ignored. The actual cols is determined by the actual number of components and rows.

8.3 BorderLayout
In java.awt.BorderLayout, the container is divided into 5 zones: EAST, WEST, SOUTH,
NORTH,

and

CENTER.

Components

are

added

using

method

aContainer.add(acomponent, aZone), where azone is either BorderLayout.NORTH (or

PAGE_START),

BorderLayout.WEST

(or

LINE_START), BorderLayout.EAST (or LINE_END), or BorderLayout.CENTER.

BorderLayout.SOUTH

The

(or

PAGE_END),

method aContainer.add(aComponent) without specifying the zone adds the component

to the CENTER.
You need not add components to all the 5 zones. The NORTH and SOUTH components may
be stretched horizontally; the EAST and WEST components may be stretched vertically; the
CENTER component may stretch both horizontally and vertically to fill any space left over.
Constructors
public BorderLayout();
public BorderLayout(int hgap, int vgap);
// By default hgap=0, vgap=0

Example
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import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
// An AWT GUI program inherits the top-level container java.awt.Frame
public class AWTBorderLayoutDemo extends Frame {
private Button btnNorth, btnSouth, btnCenter, btnEast, btnWest;
/** Constructor to setup GUI components */
public AWTBorderLayoutDemo () {
setLayout(new BorderLayout(3, 3));
// "this" Frame sets layout to BorderLayout,
// horizontal and vertical gaps of 3 pixels
// The components are added to the specified zone
btnNorth = new Button("NORTH");
add(btnNorth, BorderLayout.NORTH);
btnSouth = new Button("SOUTH");
add(btnSouth, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
btnCenter = new Button("CENTER");
add(btnCenter, BorderLayout.CENTER);
btnEast = new Button("EAST");
add(btnEast, BorderLayout.EAST);
btnWest = new Button("WEST");
add(btnWest, BorderLayout.WEST);
setTitle("BorderLayout Demo"); // "this" Frame sets title
setSize(280, 150);
// "this" Frame sets initial size
setVisible(true);
// "this" Frame shows
}

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/** The entry main() method */

public static void main(String[] args) {
new AWTBorderLayoutDemo(); // Let the constructor do the job
}
}

8.4 Using Panels as Sub-Container to Organize Components

An AWT Panel is a rectangular pane, which can be used as sub-container to organized a
group of related components in a specific layout (e.g., FlowLayout, BorderLayout). Panels
are secondary containers, which shall be added into a top-level container (such as Frame), or
another Panel.
For example, the following figure shows a Frame (in BorderLayout) containing two Panels,
panelResult in FlowLayout and panelButtons in GridLayout. panelResult is added to
the NORTH, and panelButtons is added to the CENTER.

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import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
// An AWT GUI program inherits the top-level container java.awt.Frame
public class AWTPanelDemo extends Frame {
private Button[] btnNumbers = new Button[10]; // Array of 10 numeric buttons
private Button btnHash, btnStar;
private TextField tfDisplay;
/** Constructor to setup GUI components */
public AWTPanelDemo () {
// Set up display panel
Panel panelDisplay = new Panel(new FlowLayout());
tfDisplay = new TextField("0", 20);
panelDisplay.add(tfDisplay);
// Set up button panel
Panel panelButtons = new Panel(new GridLayout(4, 3));
btnNumbers[1] = new Button("1");
panelButtons.add(btnNumbers[1]);
btnNumbers[2] = new Button("2");
panelButtons.add(btnNumbers[2]);
btnNumbers[3] = new Button("3");
panelButtons.add(btnNumbers[3]);
btnNumbers[4] = new Button("4");
panelButtons.add(btnNumbers[4]);
btnNumbers[5] = new Button("5");
panelButtons.add(btnNumbers[5]);
btnNumbers[6] = new Button("6");
panelButtons.add(btnNumbers[6]);
btnNumbers[7] = new Button("7");
panelButtons.add(btnNumbers[7]);
btnNumbers[8] = new Button("8");
panelButtons.add(btnNumbers[8]);
btnNumbers[9] = new Button("9");
panelButtons.add(btnNumbers[9]);
// Can use a loop for the above statements!
btnStar = new Button("*");
panelButtons.add(btnStar);
btnNumbers[0] = new Button("0");
panelButtons.add(btnNumbers[0]);
btnHash = new Button("#");
panelButtons.add(btnHash);
setLayout(new BorderLayout());

// "this" Frame sets to BorderLayout

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add(panelDisplay, BorderLayout.NORTH);
add(panelButtons, BorderLayout.CENTER);
setTitle("BorderLayout Demo"); // "this" Frame sets title
setSize(200, 200);
// "this" Frame sets initial size
setVisible(true);
// "this" Frame shows
}
/** The entry main() method */
public static void main(String[] args) {
new AWTPanelDemo(); // Let the constructor do the job
}
}

8.5 BoxLayout
BoxLayout arrange components in a single row or column. It respects components' requests on the minimum sizes.
[TODO] Example and diagram

9. (Advanced) Composite Design Pattern

As mentioned earlier, there are two groups of classes in the AWT hierarchy: containers and components. A container (e.g., Frame,
Panel, Dialog, java.applet.Applet) holds components (e.g., Label, Button, TextField). A container (e.g., Frame and Panel) can
also hold sub-containers (e.g. Panel). Hence, we have a situation that "a container can contain containers or components".
This is quite a common problem: e.g., a directory contains (sub)directories or files; a group contains (sub)groups or elementary
elements; the tree structure. A design pattern has been proposed for this problem. A design pattern is a proven and possibly the best
solution for a specific class of problems.
As shown in the class diagram, there are two sets of relationship between Container and Component classes.
1. One-to-many aggregation: A Container contains zero or more Components. Each Component is contained in exactly one
Container.
2. Generalization (or Inheritance): Container is a subclass of Component. In other words, a Container is a Component, which
possesses all the properties of Component and can be substituted in place of a Component.
Combining both relationships, we have: A Container contains Components. Since a Container is a Component, a Container can also
contain Containers. Consequently, a Container can contain Containers and Components.
The Gof calls this recursive composition class design "composite design pattern", which is illustrated as follows:

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10. Swing
10.1 Introduction
Swing is part of the so-called "Java Foundation Classes (JFC)" (have you heard of MFC?), which was introduced in 1997 after the release
of JDK 1.1. JFC was subsequently included as an integral part of JDK since JDK 1.2. JFC consists of:
Swing API: for advanced graphical programming.
Accessibility API: provides assistive technology for the disabled.
Java 2D API: for high quality 2D graphics and images.
Pluggable look and feel supports.
Drag-and-drop support between Java and native applications.
The goal of Java GUI programming is to allow the programmer to build GUI that looks good on ALL platforms. JDK 1.0's AWT was
awkward and non-object-oriented (using many event.getSource()). JDK 1.1's AWT introduced event-delegation (event-driven)
model, much clearer and object-oriented. JDK 1.1 also introduced inner class and JavaBeans a component programming model for
visual programming environment (similar to Visual Basic and Dephi).
Swing appeared after JDK 1.1. It was introduced into JDK 1.1 as part of an add-on JFC (Java Foundation Classes). Swing is a rich set of
easy-to-use, easy-to-understand JavaBean GUI components that can be dragged and dropped as "GUI builders" in visual programming
environment. Swing is now an integral part of Java since JDK 1.2.

10.2 Swing's Features

Swing is huge (consists of 18 API packages as in JDK 1.7) and has great depth. Compared with AWT, Swing provides a huge and
comprehensive collection of reusable GUI components, as shown in the Figure below (extracted form Swing Tutorial).

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The main features of Swing are (extracted from the Swing website):
1. Swing is written in pure Java (except a few classes) and therefore is 100% portable.
2. Swing components are lightweight. The AWT components are heavyweight (in terms of system resource utilization). Each AWT
component has its own opaque native display, and always displays on top of the lightweight components. AWT components rely
heavily on the underlying windowing subsystem of the native operating system. For example, an AWT button ties to an actual
button in the underlying native windowing subsystem, and relies on the native windowing subsystem for their rendering and
processing. Swing components (JComponents) are written in Java. They are generally not "weight-down" by complex GUI
considerations imposed by the underlying windowing subsystem.
3. Swing components support pluggable look-and-feel. You can choose between Java look-and-feel and the look-and-feel of the
underlying OS (e.g., Windows, UNIX or Mac). If the later is chosen, a Swing button runs on the Windows looks like a Windows'
button and feels like a Window's button. Similarly, a Swing button runs on the UNIX looks like a UNIX's button and feels like a
UNIX's button.

4. Swing supports mouse-less operation, i.e., it can operate entirely using keyboard.
5. Swing components support "tool-tips".
6. Swing components are JavaBeans a Component-based Model used in Visual Programming (like Visual Basic). You can
drag-and-drop a Swing component into a "design form" using a "GUI builder" and double-click to attach an event handler.
7. Swing application uses AWT event-handling classes (in package java.awt.event). Swing added some new classes in package
javax.swing.event, but they are not frequently used.
8. Swing application uses AWT's layout manager (such as FlowLayout and BorderLayout in package java.awt). It added new
layout managers, such as Springs, Struts, and BoxLayout (in package javax.swing).

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9. Swing implements double-buffering and automatic repaint batching for smoother screen repaint.
10. Swing introduces JLayeredPane and JInternalFrame for creating Multiple Document Interface (MDI) applications.
11. Swing supports floating toolbars (in JToolBar), splitter control, "undo".
12. Others - check the Swing website.

10.3 Using Swing API

If you understood the AWT programming (such as container/component, event-handling, layout manager), switching over to Swing (or
any other Graphics packages) is straight-forward.

Swing's Components
Compared with the AWT classes (in package java.awt), Swing component classes (in package javax.swing) begin with a prefix "J",
e.g., JButton, JTextField, JLabel, JPanel, JFrame, or JApplet.

The above figure shows the class hierarchy of the swing GUI classes. Similar to AWT, there are two groups of classes: containers and
components. A container is used to hold components. A container can also hold containers because it is a (subclass of) component.
As a rule, do not mix heavyweight AWT components and lightweight Swing components in the same program, as the heavyweight
components will always be painted on top of the lightweight components.

Swing's Top-Level and Secondary Containers

Just like AWT application, a Swing application requires a
top-level container. There are three top-level containers in
Swing:
1. JFrame: used for the application's main window (with
an icon, a title, minimize/maximize/close buttons, an
optional menu-bar, and a content-pane), as
illustrated.
2. JDialog: used for secondary pop-up window (with a
title, a close button, and a content-pane).
3. JApplet:

used

for

the

applet's

display-area

(content-pane) inside a browsers window.

Similarly to AWT, there are secondary containers (such as
JPanel) which can be used to group and layout relevant

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components.

The Content-Pane of Swing's Top-Level Container

However, unlike AWT, the JComponents shall not be added onto the top-level container (e.g., JFrame, JApplet) directly because they
are lightweight components. The JComponents must be added onto the so-called content-pane of the top-level container.
Content-pane is in fact a java.awt.Container that can be used to group and layout components.
You could:
1. get the content-pane via getContentPane() from a top-level container, and add components onto it. For example,
public class TestGetContentPane extends JFrame {
// Constructor
public TestGetContentPane() {
// Get the content-pane of this JFrame, which is a java.awt.Container
// All operations, such as setLayout() and add() operate on the content-pane
Container cp = this.getContentPane();
cp.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
cp.add(new JLabel("Hello, world!"));
cp.add(new JButton("Button"));
......
}
.......
}

2. set the content-pane to a JPanel (the main panel created in your application which holds all your GUI components) via JFrame's
setContentPane().
public class TestSetContentPane extends JFrame {
// Constructor
public TestSetContentPane() {
// The "main" JPanel holds all the GUI components
JPanel mainPanel = new JPanel(new FlowLayout());
mainPanel.add(new JLabel("Hello, world!"));
mainPanel.add(new JButton("Button"));
// Set the content-pane of this JFrame to the main JPanel
this.setContentPane(mainPanel);
......
}
.......
}

Notes: If a component is added directly into a JFrame, it is added into the content-pane of JFrame instead, i.e.,
// "this" is a JFrame
add(new JLabel("add to JFrame directly"));
// is executed as
getContentPane().add(new JLabel("add to JFrame directly"));

Event-Handling in Swing
Swing uses the AWT event-handling classes (in package java.awt.event). Swing introduces a few new event-handling classes (in
package javax.swing.event) but they are not frequently used.

Writing Swing Applications

In summary, to write a Swing application, you have:
1. Use the Swing components with prefix "J" in package javax.swing, e.g., JFrame, JButton, JTextField, JLabel, etc.
2. A top-level container (such as JFrame or JApplet) is needed. The JComponents should be added directly onto the top-level
container. They shall be added onto the content-pane of the top-level container. You can retrieve a reference to the content-pane
by invoking method getContentPane() from the top-level container, or set the content-pane to the main JPanel created in
your program.
3. Swing applications uses AWT event-handling classes, e.g., ActionEvent/ActionListener, MouseEvent/MouseListener, etc.

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4. Run the constructor in the Event Dispatcher Thread (instead of Main thread) for thread safety, as shown in the following program
template.

10.4 Swing Program Template

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import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
// A Swing GUI application inherits from top-level container javax.swing.JFrame
public class ...... extends JFrame {
// private variables
// ......
/** Constructor to setup the GUI components */
public ......() {
Container cp = this.getContentPane();
// Content-pane sets layout
cp.setLayout(new ....Layout());
// Allocate the GUI components
// .....
// Content-pane adds components
cp.add(....);
// Source object adds listener
// .....
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
// Exit the program when the close-window button clicked
setTitle("......"); // "this" JFrame sets title
setSize(300, 150);
// "this" JFrame sets initial size (or pack())
setVisible(true);
// show it
}
/** The entry main() method */
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Run GUI codes in Event-Dispatching thread for thread-safety
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
@Override
public void run() {
new ......(); // Let the constructor do the job
}
});
}
}

I will explain this template in the following Swing example.

10.5 Swing Example 1: SwingCounter

Let's convert the earlier AWT application example into Swing. Compare the two
source files and note the changes (which are highlighted). The display is shown
below. Note the differences in look and feel between the AWT GUI components and
Swing's.

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import java.awt.*;
// Using AWT containers and components
import java.awt.event.*; // Using AWT events and listener interfaces
import javax.swing.*;
// Using Swing components and containers
// A Swing GUI application inherits from top-level container javax.swing.JFrame

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public class SwingCounter extends JFrame {

private JTextField tfCount; // Use Swing's JTextField instead of AWT's TextField
private int count = 0;
/** Constructor to setup the GUI */
public SwingCounter () {
// Retrieve the content-pane of the top-level container JFrame
// All operations done on the content-pane
Container cp = getContentPane();
cp.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
cp.add(new JLabel("Counter"));
tfCount = new JTextField("0", 10);
tfCount.setEditable(false);
cp.add(tfCount);
JButton btnCount = new JButton("Count");
cp.add(btnCount);
// Allocate an anonymous instance of an anonymous inner class that
// implements ActionListener as ActionEvent listener
btnCount.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
@Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
++count;
tfCount.setText(count + "");
}
});
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE); // Exit program if close-window button clicked
setTitle("Swing Counter"); // "this" JFrame sets title
setSize(300, 100);
// "this" JFrame sets initial size
setVisible(true);
// "this" JFrame shows
}
/** The entry main() method */
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Run the GUI construction in the Event-Dispatching thread for thread-safety
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
@Override
public void run() {
new SwingCounter(); // Let the constructor do the job
}
});
}
}

JFrame's Content-Pane
The JFrams's method getContentPane() returns the content-pane (which is a java.awt.Containter) of the JFrame. You can then
set its layout (the default layout is BorderLayout), and add components into it. For example,
Container cp = getContentPane(); //
cp.setLayout(new FlowLayout()); //
cp.add(new JLabel("Counter"));
//
......
cp.add(tfCount);
// content-pane
......
cp.add(btnCount);
// content-pane

Get the content-pane of this JFrame

content-pane sets to FlowLayout
content-pane adds a JLabel component
adds a JTextField component
adds a JButton component

You can also use the JFrame's setContentPane() method to directly set the content-pane to a JPanel (or a JComponent). For
example,
JPanel displayPanel = new JPanel();
this.setContentPane(displayPanel);
// "this" JFrame sets its content-pane to a JPanel directly
.....

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// The above is different from:

this.getContentPane().add(displayPanel);
// Add a JPanel into the content-pane. Appearance depends on the JFrame's layout.

JFrame's setDefaultCloseOperation()
Instead of writing a WindowEvent listener with a windowClosing() handler to process the "close-window" button, JFrame provides a
method called setDefaultCloseOperation() to sets the default operation when the user initiates a "close" on this frame. Typically,
we choose the option JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE, which terminates the application via a System.exit().
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);

Running the GUI Construction Codes on the Event-Dispatching Thread

In the previous examples, we invoke the constructor directly in the entry main() method to setup the GUI components. For example,
// The entry main method
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Invoke the constructor (by allocating an instance) to setup the GUI
new SwingCounter();
}

The constructor will be executed in the so-called "Main-Program" thread. This may cause multi-threading issues (such as unresponsive
user-interface and deadlock).
It is recommended to execute the GUI setup codes in the so-called "Event-Dispatching" thread, instead of "Main-Program" thread, for
thread-safe operations. Event-dispatching thread, which processes events, should be used when the codes updates the GUI.
To run the constructor on the event-dispatching thread, invoke static method SwingUtilities.invokeLater() to asynchronously
queue the constructor on the event-dispatching thread. The codes will be run after all pending events have been processed. For
example,
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Run the GUI codes in the Event-dispatching thread for thread-safety
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
@Override
public void run() {
new SwingCounter(); // Let the constructor do the job
}
});
}

Note: javax.swing.SwingUtilities.invokeLater() is a cover for java.awt.EventQueue.invokeLater() (which is used in the

NetBeans' Visual GUI Builder).
At times, for example in game programming, the constructor or the main() may contains non-GUI codes. Hence, it is a common
practice to create a dedicated method called initComponents() (used in NetBeans visual GUI builder) or createAndShowGUI() (used
in Swing tutorial) to handle all the GUI codes (and another method called initGame() to handle initialization of the game's objects).
This GUI init method shall be run in the event-dispatching thread.

Warning Message "The serialization class does not declare a static final serialVersionUID field of type
long"
This warning message is triggered because java.awt.Frame (via its superclass java.awt.Component) implements the
java.io.Serializable interface. This interface enables the object to be written out to an output stream serially (via method
writeObject()); and read back into the program (via method readObject()). The serialization runtime uses a number (called
serialVersionUID) to ensure that the object read into the program is compatible with the class definition, and not belonging to
another version.
You have these options:
1. Simply ignore this warning message. If a serializable class does not explicitly declare a serialVersionUID, then the
serialization runtime will calculate a default serialVersionUID value for that class based on various aspects of the class.
2. Add a serialVersionUID (Recommended), e.g.

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// version 1

3. Suppress this particular warning via annotation @SuppressWarmomgs (in package java.lang) (JDK 1.5):
@SuppressWarnings("serial")
public class MyFrame extends JFrame { ...... }

10.6 Swing Example 2: SwingAccumulator

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import java.awt.*;
// Using AWT containers and components
import java.awt.event.*; // Using AWT events and listener interfaces
import javax.swing.*;
// Using Swing components and containers
// A Swing GUI application inherits the top-level container javax.swing.JFrame
public class SwingAccumulator extends JFrame {
private JTextField tfInput, tfOutput;
private int numberIn;
// input number
private int sum = 0;
// accumulated sum, init to 0
/** Constructor to setup the GUI */
public SwingAccumulator() {
// Retrieve the content-pane of the top-level container JFrame
// All operations done on the content-pane
Container cp = getContentPane();
cp.setLayout(new GridLayout(2, 2, 5, 5));
add(new JLabel("Enter an Integer: "));
tfInput = new JTextField(10);
add(tfInput);
add(new JLabel("The Accumulated Sum is: "));
tfOutput = new JTextField(10);
tfOutput.setEditable(false); // read-only
add(tfOutput);
// Allocate an anonymous instance of an anonymous inner class that
// implements ActionListener as ActionEvent listener
tfInput.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
@Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
// Get the String entered into the input TextField, convert to int
numberIn = Integer.parseInt(tfInput.getText());
sum += numberIn;
// accumulate numbers entered into sum
tfInput.setText(""); // clear input TextField
tfOutput.setText(sum + ""); // display sum on the output TextField
}
});
setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE); // Exit program if close-window button clicked
setTitle("Swing Accumulator"); // "this" Frame sets title
setSize(350, 120); // "this" Frame sets initial size
setVisible(true);
// "this" Frame shows
}
/** The entry main() method */
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Run the GUI construction in the Event-Dispatching thread for thread-safety
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
@Override
public void run() {
new SwingAccumulator(); // Let the constructor do the job
}
});
}
}

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https://www3.ntu.edu.sg/home/ehchua/programming/java/J4a_GUI.html

11. Using Visual GUI Builder - NetBeans/Eclipse

If you have a complicated layout for your GUI application, you should use a GUI Builder, such as NetBeans or Eclipse to layout your GUI
components in a drag-and-drop manner, similar to the popular visual languages such as Visual Basic and Dephi.

11.1 NetBeans
For using NetBeans GUI Builder, read my "Writing Java GUI (AWT/Swing) Application in NetBeans"; or Swing Tutorial's "Learning Swing
with the NetBeans IDE".

11.2 Eclipse
For using Eclipse GUI Builder, read "Writing Swing Applications using Eclipse GUI Builder".

LINK TO JAVA REFERENCES & RESOURCES

MORE REFERENCES & RESOURCES

1. "Creating a GUI With JFC/Swing" (aka "The Swing Tutorial") @ http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/.
2. JFC Demo (under JDK demo "jfc" directory).
3. Java2D Tutorial @ http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/2d/index.html.
4. JOGL (Java Binding on OpenGL) @ http://java.net/projects/jogl/.
5. Java3D (@ http://java3d.java.net/).

Latest version tested: JDK 1.7.0_51

Last modified: March, 2014

Feedback, comments, corrections, and errata can be sent to Chua Hock-Chuan ([email protected]) | HOME

3/3/2015 10:35 AM