UI design

[Amit Arora]

Hi

I want to design UI in Java. Firstly I opted for Swings. Then I migrated towards the Rich Client Platform (RCP) of Eclipse. But I could not start.
The reason is that I dont have sufficient information and books for that.

1. Is it required to know JFace, SWT and plugins development before going to RCP?
2. If yes, could anyone suggest me a book for the same?
3. The appropriate book for RCP?
4. Any other alternative design methodology?

Amit

[Qunfeng Wang]

Here is a good start on Swing.

[Amit Arora]

Hi Louis

Thanks for your reply
But I want to work using RCP of Eclispe and that requires Jface, SWT and plugin development.

I want to have book or tutorial on those.

[Qunfeng Wang]

Sorry. I don't know RCP much.

[Amit Arora]

I have found one book on RCP. That is compatible with eclipse 3.1, not with 3.2 or higher version (europha).

Also that book does not describe whether the JFace, SWT or plugins knowledge are required prior to RCP.

Kindly suggest the same.

[Romain Guy]

Why not use the NetBeans RCP? You get a Swing RCP

[A User]

hope this tutorial help
http://rcptutorial.sourceforge.net/lessons.html

Before we start to talk conceptually, it is better to do something.

[Charles McGuire]

Our ERP vendor is moving to an Eclipse based RCP in a future release. This will compliment their existing interface, not replace it. We can't use the Netbeans RCP because we have hitched our wagon to our ERP vendor's horse.

I, too, am having a hard time finding books and materials that are current with the newest release. No one wants to make a huge investment in time learning things that are obsolete.

[Amit Arora]

Charles,

If you find something on eclispe RCP, do mail me at [email protected]

[Ivano Pagano]

The book you're looking for is, at present time, Eclipse Rich Client Platform: Designing, Coding, and Packaging Java Applications.

As already stated, it's based on the 3.1 version of eclipse, but my opinion is that it's still good to learn the RCP.
I guess that a new book will come out when the platform evolves enough to get this one outdated.

Prior knowledge of eclipse plugin development could be useful but IMO not a must.
Prior knowledge of SWT and JFace is not necessary to learn the RCP through the book, but it's not detailed therein, so you must look for additional resources once you start developing yourself.
I suppose there is enough stuff to be found on the web on the subject, or you could look for the "SWT/JFace in Action" book.

Bye