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Java Desktop application: SWT vs. Swing

Asked 2010-02-21T14:39:40.360
157

I'm a web developer at day and thinking about building my first real desktop application. The idea is to build a tool that automates a very repetitive task in a web application where no API is available.

I know I want to use Java. I used it before for web stuff, know the syntax pretty well and want the application to be cross plattform as easy as possible.

Where I'm not so sure is if I should use SWT or Swing. As my main audience uses Windows, I want to look it as native as possible there. Linux and Mac should work, but the looks are not so important here.

So what are the arguments for and against each UI Framework, Swing or SWT?

Thanks.

PS: I develop on Windows using Eclipse. But was thinking about playing with Netbeans.

java swing swt
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2 Answers

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An important thing to consider is that some users and some resellers (Dell) install a 64 bit VM on their 64 bit Windows, and you can't use the same SWT library on 32 bit and 64 bit VMs.

This means you will need to distribute and test different packages depending on whether users have 32-bit or a 64-bit Java VM. See this problem with Azureus, for instance, but you also have it with Eclipse, where as of today the builds on the front download page do not run on a 64 bit VM.

answered 2010-02-21T15:26:53.147
3

If you plan to build a full functional applications with more than a handful of features, I will suggest to jump right to using Eclipse RCP as the framework.

If your application won't grow too big or your requirements are just too unique to be handled by a normal business framework, you can safely jump with Swing.

At the end of the day, I'd suggest you to try both technologies to find the one suit you better. Like Netbeans vs Eclipse vs IntelliJ, there is no the absolute correct answer here and both frameworks have their own drawbacks.

Pro Swing:

  • more experts
  • more Java-like (almost no public field, no need to dispose on resource)

Pro SWT:

  • more OS native
  • faster
answered 2010-02-21T15:48:47.983

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