| Off Topic - observation on Java approach to building GUI's [message #166391] |
Fri, 05 December 2003 09:56 |
Eclipse User |
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Originally posted by: myles_jeffery.hotmail.com
Hi,
Java gets a lots of flack due to the time consuming nature of building user
interfaces when laying out buttons and the like on a form using layout
managers. We have some GUI builders available (for both Swing and SWT now)
that help but they are still nothing compared to the speed of building them
using say, a .Net or VB GUI builder where components are dropped on the form
and shifted around with ease.
Having said that something struck me as to why the Java way is in fact far
superior; and it has to do with accessibility. I have only checked this on
Windows 2000 but perhaps it applies to XP too; if you change the Windows
look & feel (desktop scheme) to use large text then start using Eclipse you
will observe that every single dialog is rendered with large text on buttons
and in lists with all the components resized proportionately to accommodate
the larger text. Now, if you open up other Windows applications (non-Java
ones) such as Outlook or Word etc. you will find that some text is large
while a lot of it isn't. Surely this is not good for those with difficulty
seeing smaller text?
The reaon for this descrepency between Java and non-Java apps is that Java
GUIs are not designed using absolute coordinates whereas VB style ones are.
If text is enlarged in Java, the layout manager resizes the form components
accordingly.
So, in summary, although it is a lot more effort to create GUIs using Java
and layout managers, the payoff is that the GUIs are far more accessible.
Of course there is the whole other issue of platform independence where
layout managers help Java to cope with the differences between windowing
systems. But surely accessibility is just as important too?
One ironic thing I noticed is: first set the Windows desktop theme to "high
contrast white & extra large text" and then open the Window's accessibility
options dialog only to find that all the text is very small.
Myles
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