Java Swing Cheat

Sheet
1.​ Main Window
a.​ JFrame
b.​ JPanel
2.​ Core Components
a.​ Components Management
b.​ JLabel
c.​ JButton
d.​ JTextField
e.​ JTextArea
f.​ TCheckBox
g.​ JRadioButton
3.​ Event Handling
a.​ ActionListener
b.​ ItemListener
c.​ KeyListener
d.​ MouseListener
4.​ Layouts
a.​ FlowLayout
5.​ Full Example
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;

Main Window
JFrame
The main window.

public class Main{

public static void main(String[] args){
JFrame frame = new JFrame();
//Write here

}
}

Properties

Property Method Description

Title frame.setTitle("Ex") Sets the window title.

Size frame.setSize(400,400) Sets the width and height of the frame.

(height, width)

Visibility frame.setVisible(true) Shows or hides the window.

Background frame.getContentPane().setBa
Color ckground(Color.RED);

JPanel
Container for grouping components, it as a subsection of a window (JFrame) that
can hold buttons, labels, text fields, and more.

JPanel panel = new JPanel();

panel.setBackground(Color.LIGHT_GRAY);
panel.setLayout(new FlowLayout());

JButton button = new JButton("Click me");

panel.add(button);

frame.add(panel); // Add the panel to the JFrame

Same Properties as JFrame.

Core Components

Component Management

Property Method Description

Add Component add(Component comp) Adds a component to
the frame.

Remove Component remove(Component comp) Removes a specific

component.

Clear All Components getContentPane().remov Removes all components

eAll() from the frame.

Validate Layout validate() Re-lays out components

after changes.

Repaint repaint() Refreshes the display.

JLabel
Displays text or an image (non-interactive).

JLabel label = new JLabel("Welcome!");

Useful Methods:

●​ setText("New text") – changes the displayed text

●​ setIcon(new ImageIcon("img.png")) – sets an image
JButton
A clickable button that performs an action.

JButton button = new JButton("Submit");

●​ setText("OK") – changes button text

●​ addActionListener(e -> { ... }) – responds to clicks

JTextField
Single-line input text

JTextField textField = new JTextField(20);

●​ getText() – retrieves input

●​ setText("Default") – sets default text
●​ addActionListener(e -> { ... }) – listens to Enter key press

JTextArea
Multi-line text box
JTextArea textArea = new JTextArea(5, 20);

●​ getText() – retrieves text

●​ setText("Hello") – sets text

JCheckBox
Toggle option (on/off).

JCheckBox checkBox = new JCheckBox("I agree");

●​ isSelected() – returns true if checked

●​ addItemListener(e -> { ... }) – handles check/uncheck
events

JRadioButton
Select one option in a group.
JRadioButton rb = new JRadioButton("Male");
ButtonGroup group = new ButtonGroup();
group.add(rb);

●​ isSelected() – checks if this button is selected

●​ addItemListener(e -> { ... }) – handles selection

Use ButtonGroup to group JRadioButtons so only one can be selected at

a time.

Event Handling
In Swing, event handling lets components respond to user actions like clicks,
key presses, or window events. This is done by adding listeners to
components.

ActionListener– Button Clicks / Enter Key

JButton button = new JButton("Click me");

button.addActionListener(e -> {

System.out.println("Button clicked!");

});

ItemListener-Checkbox & RadioButton Selection

JCheckBox checkBox = new JCheckBox("Agree?");
checkBox.addItemListener(e -> {
if (checkBox.isSelected()) {
System.out.println("Checked");
} else {
System.out.println("Unchecked");
 }
});

KeyListener-keyboard Input
textField.addKeyListener(new KeyAdapter() {
public void keyPressed(KeyEvent e) {
System.out.println("Key pressed: " + e.getKeyChar());
}
});

MouseListener-Mouse Clicks
component.addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() {
public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent e) {
System.out.println("Mouse clicked!");
}
});

Layouts

FlowLayout
Places components left to right, like text in a paragraph.
frame.setLayout(new FlowLayout());

●​ new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.LEFT) – aligns to the left

●​ new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.CENTER) – (default)
●​ new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.RIGHT) – aligns to the right
Full Example

import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;

public class Main {

🪟
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Main Window
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Cheat Sheet App with Image");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setSize(600, 600);

// 🧱 Panel with Layout

JPanel panel = new JPanel(new FlowLayout());

// 🏷️ JLabel
JLabel label = new JLabel("Enter your name:");

// 🖊️ JTextField
JTextField textField = new JTextField(20);

// 📝 JTextArea
JTextArea textArea = new JTextArea(5, 30);
textArea.setLineWrap(true);
textArea.setWrapStyleWord(true);

//✅ JCheckBox
JCheckBox checkBox = new JCheckBox("I agree to the
terms");

// 🔘 JRadioButtons and Group

JRadioButton male = new JRadioButton("Male");
JRadioButton female = new JRadioButton("Female");
ButtonGroup genderGroup = new ButtonGroup();
 genderGroup.add(male);
genderGroup.add(female);

// 🖱️ JButton
JButton button = new JButton("Submit");

// 🖼️ JLabel for Image

JLabel imageLabel = new JLabel();
ImageIcon imageIcon = new ImageIcon("My Image.jpg");
imageLabel.setIcon(imageIcon);

//🎯 ActionListener for button

button.addActionListener(e -> {
String name = textField.getText();
String gender = male.isSelected() ? "Male" :
(female.isSelected() ? "Female" : "Unspecified");
String agreement = checkBox.isSelected() ? "Agreed" :
"Not agreed";

textArea.setText("Name: " + name + "\nGender: " +

gender + "\nStatus: " + agreement);
});

// 🎯 ItemListener for checkbox

checkBox.addItemListener(e -> {
if (checkBox.isSelected()) {
System.out.println("Checkbox checked");
} else {
System.out.println("Checkbox unchecked");
}
});

// 🎯 KeyListener for Enter key in text field

textField.addKeyListener(new KeyAdapter() {
public void keyPressed(KeyEvent e) {
if (e.getKeyCode() == KeyEvent.VK_ENTER) {
button.doClick(); // simulate button click
}
}
});
 //🎯 MouseListener for text area
textArea.addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter() {
public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent e) {
System.out.println("TextArea clicked!");
}
});

//➕ Add Components to Panel

panel.add(label);
panel.add(textField);
panel.add(male);
panel.add(female);
panel.add(checkBox);
panel.add(button);

🖼️
panel.add(textArea);
panel.add(imageLabel); // Add image at the end

//🧱 Add Panel to Frame

frame.add(panel);

//👀 Show Frame

frame.setVisible(true);
}
}