GUI Builders and Swing

Engines, Libraries and Tools Tools Discussion
#1

I’ve been searching online for good Swing GUI builders (that, uh, are free) and haven’t been able to find any.

Yeah, I know that Swing isn’t fast or ideal for most games… but what about strategy games, or game tools like editors or scripters?

Does anyone know of any which are available free of charge and without limitations (ie: trial-periods)? Are there any which are integrated with Eclipse (along the lines of the SWT Workbench)?

I’d just prefer something quicker than typing out JPanel code by hand.

#2

I’ve read that NetBeans’ GUI builder is one of the best … but I haven’t used it enough to give a personal opinion.

I spend most my time writing code and have found that when picking an IDE the code editing features are really the most important features. If I were to build a Swing app I’d probably prototype the interface in NetBeans and then code it like I want it in IDEA.

#3

JBuilders GUI builder is very good, but not free.

NetBeans is ok, but works with special code tags and additional files. So it’s not a real 2-way-tool (like JBuilder is).
I regularly use it for the common things, but if it gets more fancy, I use it only as a supporting tool and do the real stuff by hand.

#4

There is now a GUI builder available for Eclipse, namely V4All GUI Builder. It’s a plugin and free for non-commercial use.
I haven’t tried it yet but it looks promising.
And even the commercial version is affordable (49 $ for the Swing version, with SWT and XML/Swing in the pipe).

The website is at http://www.assisiplugins.com/index_start.html

#5

leknor - That’s all I really want from a GUI builder anyway: some quick layout code so I don’t have to keep test-running every time I add a JPanel.

herkules - So does the NetBeans GUI builder use some sort of xml file to define UIs (like so many other GUI builders)? Does it make the resulting code different/unmanagable?

thaaks - Thanks. I’m actually debating whether or not to stick with Eclipse or switch to NetBeans. Should I decide on Eclipse, I’ll give that plugin a try.

#6

isnt forte 4 java anygood??

#7

[quote]isnt forte 4 java anygood??
[/quote]
Forte and NetBeans are the same, Forte is a commercial and supported product. NetBeans is Open Source so you’re gonna have to figure thing out yourself more often.

#8

Found this just now, haven’t used it, though.
http://www.jvider.com/

#9

Judging from the description - poor.