How can I create a "modern looking" Java desktop application?

Similar questions to this are asked periodically, but many of these answers are outdated.

I need to build a cross-platform desktop application in Java with a GUI of comparable quality to contemporary desktop apps.

Swing is the default choice, but I have yet to encounter a Swing application that didn't look, at the very least, quite dated and clunky (subjective, I know, but with GUIs it's hard to avoid aesthetic judgements).

I notice that the new Bitcoin client now uses QT with Java bindings, and does have an attractive user interface, but this has the disadvantage that it is no-longer pure Java.

So much of what I find when I search for Swing-related libraries is 5 years old or older, even though the aesthetics of desktop applications have evolved significantly since then.

If you needed to build a Java desktop application from scratch, what would you use for its GUI?

Solution 1:

I can also offer you a new LaF to look into - WebLaF. I'am currently working on it to bring a lot of UI features and make work with Swing much easier for anyone by just using WebLaF library basic features.

A few examples showing how some of WebLaF components look like:

Some of main goals i am targeting:

1. Great and modern-looking L&F with support for all Swing components
2. An extensive set of additional components which you won't find in standard Swing
3. A big set of Utility classes to assist you with writing the code

WebLaF library also suggests a few other advantages and unique features:

1. It is an open-source project (GPLv3 licensed)
2. Easy components styling using painters system (specifically with 9-patch files)
3. Quick and easy customization of the default "Web" style
4. Lots of features to accelerate and simplify Swing application interface creation

You can try the demo-app to see if it is modern and simple enough :)

Solution 2:

Have you looked into JavaFX 2.0? It is designed to interop easily with Swing, and has many modern 'good looking' controls.

Also, as lrAndroid mentions, a Swing app can look like a native app if you set the system look and feel with:

UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName());

Solution 3:

Look into changing the Look and Feel of your Java program. This allows you to customize the overall "theme" of your program. Here is information on changing the LAF.

Solution 4:

Modern Javascript frameworks (ExtJS, Dojo, etc...) offer the same widgets richness or more (Excel like grids for instance), a wider variety of L&F and usually fit better with the OS of the user. Users are also very comfortable with their browsers and, hey, "modern stuff" is on the web, and the modern web today is HTML+Javascript.

The overhead of converting an app to "web like" is minimal. An embedded Jetty can remain really small and disk space has become much less of an issue.

There are additional benefits going down this route for the future evolutions of the application.

• Suddenly, the desktop app becomes a server app, which can be accessed from another desktop. We were able top promote a desktop app to 'portal' in a matter of weeks.
• Rewriting the app in terms of (Ajax) web services provides an easy transition to creating a full REST (or SOAP...) services stack. The app can then be integrated to other applications, easily monitored externally, etc...
• Support of other devices (smart phones, tablets,...) becomes much easier, by concentrating on the UI layer only
• As the app grows, separation of concerns is cleaner; developers working on the UI do not have to mess with low level code.
• There are a lot of excellent JS/HTML designers and developers that do not program in Java.

EDIT

3 years later this has become extremely easy thanks to Electron

Solution 5:

Try one of these:

1. JTattoo
2. JGoodies
3. Quaqua