swingLabs is a discontinued

open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...

project developed by

Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems, Inc., often known as Sun for short, was an American technology company that existed from 1982 to 2010 which developed and sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services. Sun contributed sig ...

proposing extensions to the

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

Swing

GUI toolkit A widget toolkit, widget library, GUI toolkit, or UX library is a library or a collection of libraries containing a set of graphical control elements (called ''widgets'') used to construct the graphical user interface (GUI) of programs. Most wid ...

. Available components included: * Sorting, filtering, highlighting for tables, trees, and lists * Find/search * Auto-completion * Login/authentication framework * TreeTable component * Collapsible panel component * Date picker component * Tip of the day component The aim of the project was to experiment new or enhanced GUI functionalities that are required by

Rich client In computer networking, a rich client (also called a heavy, fat or thick client) is a computer (a " client" in client–server network architecture) that typically provides rich functionality independent of the central server. This kind of comput ...

applications. It acted as a testbed for ideas related to client side technologies.

Integration into Java API

Some successful project components were eventually incorporated into the core Swing toolkit for future Java versions, although

API An application programming interface (API) is a connection between computers or between computer programs. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how to build ...

compatibility was not guaranteed. Examples of these are: *The GroupLayout manager in

Java SE 6 The Java (programming language), Java language has undergone several changes since Java Development Kit, JDK 1.0 as well as numerous additions of class (computer science), classes and packages to the standard library (computer science), libr ...

. *Incorporation of the SystemTray in Java SE 6. *The new Desktop class in Java SE 6, which allows to launch easily associated applications registered on the native desktop, as for example : launching the user-default browser, launching the user-default mail client, launching a registered application to open, edit or print a specified file.

Sub-projects

The swingLabs project was divided into several sub-projects. For example: *swingX: Provides extensions to the

Swing

. *JDIC (JDesktop Integration Components): Aims to provide Java applications with seamless desktop integration without sacrificing platform independence. *nimbus: A

Look and feel In software design, the look and feel of a graphical user interface comprises aspects of its design, including elements such as colors, shapes, layout, and typefaces (the "look"), as well as the behavior of dynamic elements such as buttons, boxes ...

using

synth A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

. *swingLayout: Was the home of the GroupLayout manager before its inclusion in

. *JDNC: Contained components to simplify the development of Swing-based

rich client In computer networking, a rich client (also called a heavy, fat or thick client) is a computer (a " client" in client–server network architecture) that typically provides rich functionality independent of the central server. This kind of comput ...

Java applications. This project has been replaced by the Swing Application Framework (JSR 296). *scenegraph: A library providing 2D

Scene graph A scene graph is a general data structure commonly used by vector-based graphics editing applications and modern computer games, which arranges the logical and often spatial representation of a graphical scene. It is a collection of nodes in a g ...

functionality to

Java 2D Java 2D is an API for drawing two-dimensional graphics using the Java programming language. Every Java 2D drawing operation can ultimately be treated as ''filling'' a ''shape'' using a ''paint'' and ''compositing'' the result onto the screen.The ...

, including Swing widgets. This library is used internally by the

JavaFX Script JavaFX Script was a scripting language designed by Sun Microsystems, forming part of the JavaFX family of technologies on the Java Platform. JavaFX targeted the Rich Internet Application domain (competing with Adobe Flex and Microsoft Silverligh ...

language. *PDFRenderer: A

PDF Portable document format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe Inc., Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, computer hardware, ...

viewing library written in pure Java.

Project status

During the sunsetting of

java.net java.net was a Java technology related community website. It also offered a web-based source code repository for Java projects. It was shut down in April 2017. History java.net was announced by Sun Microsystems during JavaOne 2003. In Januar ...

in 2017, the public repository for SwingLabs was deleted, effectively terminating the SwingLabs project. Several repositories containing snapshots of the final development version of SwingLabs (1.6.6-SNAPSHOT) do exist.

References

{{Java desktop Java (programming language) Java (programming language) libraries Java APIs

Integration into Java API

Sub-projects

Project status

See also

References