Presents your 
JAVA E-NEWSLETTER for June 16, 2003

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CONSIDER YOUR APPLICATION FRAMEWORK OPTIONS

The next time you have to build an application that requires a GUI,
consider using an existing application framework.

If you decide to go this route, you have options. Three popular ones are
the Eclipse platform, NetBeans, and JLense. (You can find links for
these three platforms in the Java Discussion.) All of these platforms are
designed so that most of their functionality is pluggable. To get the
desired functionality, simply write plug-ins that do what you want. 
Then, assemble them into an application.

Several benefits to using application frameworks include:

* You get a consistent look and feel across all of your applications.

* You don't have to write the same code over and over to create main
windows, menus, etc.

* You can take advantage of the frameworks' value-added widgets like
toolbars, pop-ups, status bars, and logging facilities.

One big disadvantage to using a framework is that you'll have to learn a
new API to be able to write your plug-ins. All of the platforms will
have the same basic features, such as main windows, editors, and tasks, but
each one will give access to these resources in a different way. Another
disadvantage is that none of these frameworks are particularly small. 
All of the frameworks mentioned in this tip weigh in at a few megs.

Though using an application framework to create your applications has
its good and bad points, the payoff can be substantial. If an organization
has to write applications whose end users are used to working with
polished commercial applications, it's definitely an option you should research.

David Petersheim is a Senior Java Developer with Genscape, Inc. He
designs and develops server-side applications to acquire and process 
real-time energy data.

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