Swing Application Framework
| Company type | Java specification |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software development |
| Founded | 2006 |
| Defunct | 2011 |
| Fate | Discontinued |
| Products | Swing application framework |
The Swing Application Framework (JSR 296) was a Java specification designed specifically for developing Swing-based applications featuring graphical user interfaces. Its purpose was to simplify the creation of desktop applications by supplying a foundational framework, although it has since been discontinued.
Features
JSR 296 outlined a fundamental structure for Swing applications, providing a concise set of extendable classes to address essential desktop application requirements, including:
- Managing the application life cycle (initialization and termination);
- Handling localized resource loading;
- Maintaining persistent session data;
- Decoupling actions from their user interface representations.
Status and roadmap
The open-source Reference Implementation named "appframework" commenced development in 2006 with plans to be incorporated into Java SE 7 (Dolphin). Nevertheless, unresolved architectural challenges and the absence of agreement led to its omission from the JDK7 milestone 5 in 2009. The project was subsequently put on indefinite hold and officially withdrawn in June 2011. The final version released was 1.03.
Forks and alternatives
To continue the objectives of JSR 296, various open-source forks and alternative frameworks have been developed:
- Better Swing Application Framework (BSAF)
- Originating as a fork of appframework 1.03 in 2009 on Project Kenai, BSAF concentrated on resolving bugs and implementing minor design enhancements while preserving backward compatibility. Its last update was version 1.9.1 in 2012. The project is now archived on SourceForge.
- Guice Utilities & Tools Set (GUTS)
- This project integrated appframework with Google Guice Dependency Injection to overcome design flaws such as the problematic singleton pattern. Started in 2009, GUTS became inactive after releasing version 0.1 in 2010.
- Swing Application Framework Fork (SAFF)
- Another fork of appframework 1.03 hosted on GitHub; however, it has not seen activity since 2009.
- TreasureMap
- A library providing standalone functionality for the ResourceMap component originally part of appframework.
- NetBeans Platform
- A full-featured Swing application framework offering extensive capabilities and documentation. Support for SAF was removed from NetBeans starting with version 7.1 due to SAF's stagnation. Developers are encouraged to migrate existing SAF projects to the NetBeans Platform for continued maintenance.
- Eclipse RCP
- An alternative comprehensive application framework that uses SWT instead of Swing, suitable for complex applications but requiring a steeper learning curve.
- jGAF - Java Generic Application Framework
- A lightweight open-source solution delivering APIs covering application life cycle management, menus, configuration, OS integration, data persistence, security, wizards, and preferences aimed at accelerating Java Swing application development.
See also
External links
- Official JSR page
- Overview of the framework
- Reference implementation of appframework for JSR 296
- BSAF project page on SourceForge