With millions of downloads, Eclipse's popularity as an open source universal tool platform continues to grow rapidly and the Standard Widget Toolkit (SWT) is one of the most important common facilities the Eclipse framework provides. The pairing of SWT and JFace—which handles many common UI programming tasks—offers strong support of native features, a quick running time in terms of execution speed, and flexible programming models.

Covering the latest SWT/JFace version 3.0, this book begins with a thorough introduction to the fundamentals of the SWT/JFace framework. Then Jackwind Guojie introduces each widget, using Java source code to show you how to use the widget effectively. With the sample code provided, you'll be developing real-world applications quickly and easily.

Packed with tips, hints, tricks, and asides, this book is the ideal reference on SWT/JFace.

What you will learn from this book

• How SWT/JFace compares with the features of other toolkits
• SWT event handling, threading, and displays
• How to use design basics, such as menus, toolbars, tables, and actions
• Presentation of numerical values with scales, sliders, and progress bars
• Important SWT components
• The JFace wizard framework
• Techniques for programming OLE and ActiveX controls in Windows
• How to draw diagrams with Draw2D to create complex figures easily

Who this book is for

This book is for experienced Java user interface developers and programmers who want to combine various applications into one presentable Java native UI application.

Wrox Professional guides are planned and written by working programmers to meet the real-world needs of programmers, developers, and IT professionals. Focused and relevant, they address the issues technology professionals face every day. They provide examples, practical solutions, and expert education in new technologies, all designed to help programmers do a better job.