Frequently Asked Questions

1 General Questions
1.1 What does the JGoodies Look Demo do?
1.2 Where do I get the latest version?
1.3 Can I help you?
1.4 How to report bugs?
2 Java and Swing Questions
2.1 Can I get the source code?
2.2 Can I get the source code for free?
2.3 What about opening the sources?
2.4 Can I get the look&feel used in the demo?
2.5 What icon set do you use?
2.6 Can you recommend a Swing tutorial or book?
2.7 How can I make my application look like yours?

 1 General Questions
1.1 What does the JGoodies Looks Demo do?
This demo lets you test drive the JGoodies Windows L&F and the JGoodies Plastic L&F. You can choose settings and define options in the launcher and see and check the effect in the demo frame.

Also, the accompanying sources help licensees to understand options that have been introduced by the JGoodies Looks.

1.3 Can I help you?
Purchasing the JGoodies Looks professional source code packages helps me finance the future development of advanced Java client technology.
1.4 How to report bugs?
See contact.

 2 Java and Swing Questions
2.1 Can I get the source code?
I provide free libraries for the l&fs and layout system used in the Looks Demo, see www.jgoodies.com/freeware/. My Swing Suite product contains the full sources for the Looks Demo and the underlying framework, see the Swing Suite at www.jgoodies.com/products/.
2.2 Can I get the source code for free?
I wholeheartly like to help you, and more generally the Java community, to write Java client applications that look good and work well. And I believe that reading my sources, and using my framework and looks can significantly improve your Java GUI and speed up the development process.


I'd like to use my skills and capabilities, and work for the community, fulltime. And I'm looking for a way how to finance my efforts, where my favorite is to be hired by a major Java promoter, for example, Sun. Recently this became reality, and so I could open source the foundation libraries. Some portions are still closed source and are available in commercial code packages; but I plan to open these too.

2.3 What about opening the sources?
I plan to open source the JGoodies Looks Demo.
2.4 Can I get the look&feel used in this demo?
Yes, the JGoodies Looks is an open source library that contains the JGoodies Plastic and JGoodies Windows look & feel. You can download it at no charge from www.JavaDesktop.org, see http://looks.dev.java.net/.
2.5 What icon set do you use?
I have copied or derived most icons from the eclipse project, see www.eclipse.org.
2.6 Can you recommend a Swing tutorial or book?
There are several tutorials and books that can help you get started with the Swing widget toolkit, widgets, and basic configuration. The Swing book by Robinson and Vorobiev is one of the better books.


I haven't found a tutorial or book that helps you build effective Swing applications, i.e. that look good and work well. And I'd like to fill this gap, see the Inside section at www.jgoodies.com.

2.7 How can I make my application look like yours?
If you'd like to quickly improve your application's appearance, and usability, I recommend to check my Swing short course Metamorphosis, see www.jgoodies.com/metamorphosis/. And you may consider to license the JGoodies looks and framework.


If you either need an introduction or reference about do's and don'ts in GUI design, read Jeff Johnson's GUI Bloopers. If you are busy and can't find the time to read 500 pages, just look at the book's contents and check whether you have an idea what all the topics are about. In this case, I guess, a medium skilled GUI designer will read about 50 pages.


A thin book and recommended reading is Designing Visual Interfaces by Mullet & Sano. If you read 100 pages of this book, you will learn the most valuable basics of user interface design, and more generally, design. It is useful for the daily work of every GUI developer.