choosing the right application framework

[bryan lim]

hi all,

can you give me advices on which application framework to start with? i have some experience with GWT and have been coding in java for three years. I know there is no right or wrong answer....

SWING? SWT? or something else?

thank you all.

[Ulf Dittmer]

What should this framework do? (GWT is for web apps, while Swing and SWT are for desktop apps.)

[bryan lim]

sorry i forgot to specify...

i am looking at desktop framework...

since you mentioned, is there something that is better than GWT in your opinion? thanks

[Ulf Dittmer]

Something like the recently revived Swing Application Framework (introduction) might fit the bill. But it's hard to advise without knowing what the framework should do for your app.

[bryan lim]

SWING's design isn't as good as SWT. but i hope someone can tell me besides the design part........ is there any major factor that i should consider?

[Nathan Pruett]

bryan lim wrote:SWING's design isn't as good as SWT. but i hope someone can tell me besides the design part........ is there any major factor that i should consider?

[citation needed]

"isn't as good" in what way?

[bryan lim]

the look of SWT is better than SWING?

or maybe SWING has a new interface? correct me if i am wrong. anyway, it's very subjective when it comes to appearance.

so what aspects are major factor when choosing the right application framework?

[Hong Anderson]

bryan lim wrote:SWING's design isn't as good as SWT. but i hope someone can tell me besides the design part........ is there any major factor that i should consider?

Are you sure? What is your criteria to decide which one is better?

[Hong Anderson]

bryan lim wrote:the look of SWT is better than SWING?

or maybe SWING has a new interface? correct me if i am wrong. anyway, it's very subjective when it comes to appearance.

Do you mean look and feel? By interface do you mean look and feel or Java interfaces?
If you mean look and feel, have you yet tried look and feel that available to use?

bryan lim wrote:
so what aspects are major factor when choosing the right application framework?

Maybe, it's just a matter of taste. What API are you more comfortable to work with?
Anyway, Swing and SWT are just UI widget toolkits, they are not application frameworks.

[Mark Spritzler]

For me, being able to find developers for the project, when other developers leave. There are a lot more people that know Swing than SWT for desktop applications. I actually have never seen a desktop app written in GWT, I know there are some and I liked the idea of the "eclipse framework with SWT" for making your apps, but I tend to choose technology that I know I can easily hire people. So whiles it might look a bit nicer, I know that Swing's api is pretty easy and makes sense, and that there are some great Swing developers out there that makes great looking UIs. Including my friend Ahmed, speaking of which he is in Southern CA, if you need a Swing guy, you got to get Ahmed to help.

Anyway, that is my opinion, I think that there are lots of factors to consider when deciding any technology. But personally for all Desktop Apps right now, I would choose Swing. But based on your comments, I am predicting you like SWT better and will go down that path. ;)

Mark

[Hong Anderson]

If you are going to develop Eclipse plug-ins or Eclipse-based applications, you have to use SWT (you can use Swing, but Eclipse UI was built using SWT).

I prefer Swing, SWT has more problems than Swing in multi-platform development.