Examples Index
Lesson: Laying Out Components Within a Container
This section has not yet been updated to reflect features and conventions of the latest release, JDK 6.0.
This lesson tells you how to use the layout managers
that the Java platform provides.
It also tells you how to use absolute positioning (no layout manager)
and gives an example of writing a custom layout manager.
For each layout manager (or lack thereof),
this
lesson
points to an example
that you can run using JavaTM Web Start.
By resizing the example's window,
you can see how size changes affect the layout.
This section shows examples of the standard layout managers
and points to each one's how-to section.
This section gives general rules
on using the standard layout managers.
It includes how to set the layout manager,
add components to a container,
provide size and alignment hints,
put space between components,
and set the orientation of the container's layout
so that it's appropriate for the locale
in which the program is running.
It also has some tips for choosing the right layout manager.
This section goes through a typical layout sequence
and then describes what happens when a component's size changes.
This series of sections tells you how to use
each of the general-purpose layout managers
that the Java platform provides.
Instead of using one of the Java platform's layout managers,
you can write your own.
Layout managers must implement the LayoutManager interface,
which specifies the five methods every layout manager must define.
Optionally, layout managers can implement LayoutManager2,
which is a subinterface of LayoutManager.
If necessary, you can position components
without using a layout manager.
Generally, this solution is used to specify absolute sizes and positions
for components.
Some of the most common layout problems
are that components are displayed too small —
or not at all.
This section
tells you how to fix these and
other common layout problems.
Try these questions and exercises to test what you've learned in this lesson.