Java Swing tools?

[Silbeg]

Dan,
this question is not about HeroDesigner, per se, but about the tools you use to develop under. It is more about finding tools that will help me work on my own GUIs, as I am, at best, a Swing novice (and you are anything but!).

Specifically, what IDE do you use, if any? Also, do you have a tool to use for your Swing development, such as would be seen in C++ IDEs?

I am not aware of any such tools, and would be most appreciative of any clues you have for making Swing development easier.

Thanks, and thanks for the
great
amazing
wonderful
outstanding
(fill in the blank)
application you have created for us!

Silbeg...

[Simon]

OK...well, first off, I should warn you that I was trained in "old school" programming....in which IDEs were shunned.

I started HD development using vi

About midway through the development of v1, I was turned onto the Eclipse Project (www.eclipse.org). Eclipse proved to be the first IDE I had come across that I actually liked. I have been using it ever since and HIGHLY recommend it for Java development. It's extremely powerful, very easy to use, customizable, and (most importantly) FREE.

As far as Swing development goes, I loathe WYSIWIG GUI editors. They produce horrid code and they function as a crutch for people who don't know/want to know how to actually code a UI. I code all of my Swing interfaces by hand. GridBagLayout is your friend ;)

That said, I believe that there are some (free) plugins available for Eclipse that will function as GUI builders for Swing....I just wouldn't recommend using them.

Definitely check out Eclipse if you're doing any kind if Java development. Fantastic tool.

Hope this helps!

[Silbeg]

Thanks!

Until last year, I agreed with you on IDEs... used a simple text editor (UltraEdit) to do all my coding. I am currently using Idea as my IDE, though many in my department do use Eclipse.

I may very well be converting to Eclipse if my license ever expires on Idea (by IntelliJ), being as it is an Open Source project, with tons more plugins than my current IDE.

Thanks, again, Dan. You rock!

Silbeg...