AWT, Swing, JFC

[Ram Vir]

Hi,
Can anyone pls define AWT,Swing and JFC as these are used interchangably in many of the articles i came across and hence appears confusing to me.

Thanks in Advance
RV

[Svend Rost]

Hi Ram,

JFC stands for Java Foundation Classes. JFC are a set of Java
libraries to support GUI development.

From java.sun.com:

Overview of Java Foundation Classes (JFC) Features


Abstract Window Toolkit (AWT) - APIs that enable programs to integrate into the native desktop window system, including APIs for Drag and Drop.

Java 2D - APIs to enable advanced 2D graphics, imaging, text and printing.

Swing GUI Components - APIs that extend the AWT to provide a rich, extensible GUI component library with a pluggable look and feel.

Accessibility - APIs and assistive technologies are for ensuring an application is accessible to users with disabilities and meets government requirements for accessibility.

Internationalization - All JFC technologies include support for creating applications that can interact with users around the world using the user's own language and cultural conventions. This includes the Input Method Framework API.

These five technologies are designed to be used together to enable you to build fully functional GUI client applications that run and integrate on any client machine that supports the J2SE platform, including Microsoft Windows, Solaris, Linux, and Mac OSX.

Swing is, as stated above a set graphical components (implemented
in Java). Swing has not only the same components as you'll find in
AWT, but also new ones such as table and tree widgets.

AWT(Abstract Windowing Toolkit) was the original GUI for Java.


/Svend Rost
[ October 05, 2004: Message edited by: Svend Rost ]

[Gregg Bolinger]

What a great question for the Swing/AWT/JFC forum...