Re:Show HN: Sierra, a DSL for building Java Swing applications
by jeffreportmill1 on Tuesday January 03, 2023 @10:24AM
(#34232535)
The only real problem with Swing is that there was never a version 2. If it had been separated from AWT, updated some of the APIs and given a modern look-and-feel, it would still be relevant today. JavaFX is nice, but it broke too many conventions.
And, of course, Oracle or OpenJDK (or someone) needed to invest in a browser port of the JVM, which is totally possible these days.
Re:Show HN: Sierra, a DSL for building Java Swing applications
by gk_brown on Tuesday January 03, 2023 @11:01AM
(#34233129)
Take a look at FlatLAF:
https://github.com/JFormDesigner/FlatLaf
They have done a great job bringing a modern appearance to the Swing components.
Re:Show HN: Sierra, a DSL for building Java Swing applications
by whartung on Tuesday January 03, 2023 @12:44PM
(#34234870)
NetBeans switched to FlatLaf, and looks pretty good.
As I understand it, IDEA has done a lot of "Swing Work". I don't know if it's just augmenting existing or creating a bunch of new controls or if they delved deeper. It's just my understanding that IDEA is Swing, but not as we know it. I could be wrong.
NetBeans is pretty much pure Swing.
Re:Show HN: Sierra, a DSL for building Java Swing applications
by gk_brown on Tuesday January 03, 2023 @10:55AM
(#34233047)
Agreed. I said as much in my response to this issue that was opened the other day:
Re:Show HN: Sierra, a DSL for building Java Swing applications
by neuronexmachina on Tuesday January 03, 2023 @02:23PM
(#34236619)
For their next-gen Fleet IDE though, it looks like Jetbrains is using Kotlin and Skia/skiko?
* https://blog.jetbrains.com/fleet/2022/01/fleet-below-deck-pa...
* https://twitter.com/jetbrains_fleet/status/14653112312717393...
Actually, Swing is the GUI toolkit used by IntelliJ IDEA, one of the few if not the only commercially successful and kick-ass Java desktop app(s).