Eclipse provides three GUI extensions for visual GUI development

[Go to] eclipse for visual GUI development of three GUI plug-ins

Eclipse does not provide GUI visual development tools. If you want to implement visual GUI development in eclipse, You need to rely on third-party plug-ins.

1. visual editor

Eclipse officially provides an open-source GUI plug-in called visual editor (VE) with powerful functions. You can automatically generate the corresponding JavaCode. You can also use the corresponding Java code to generate a visual GUI for editing. However, ve has many disadvantages. I have been using ve since 3.1 and 3.2, but it has not changed much. Ve simulates the execution of GUI class by starting another JVM, and then generates a visual effect in the eclipse interface.

Looking back at Visual C, netbeans, and other ide GUI visualization methods, they manage resource files based on another interface and can be directly modified by non-users. Directly throughProgramCode to manage a visual GUI editor requires strong code parse capabilities. It is a pity that VE cannot do this.

There are many problems with using VE. Some online users directly commented that VE is "not available ". I feel like the problem lies in the following aspects:

1). In addition, it is slow to start JVM. If you want to open several visual classes at the same time, you need to start several JVMs, which consumes a lot of memory. In addition, when a visual class is opened repeatedly, the JVM cannot be started.

2). The parse capability for visual Java code edited by users is weak. A common error is that the GUI code is visualized correctly. However, if the window in VE is opened for half a day, only one cross can be displayed. In many cases, a complete visual window cannot be displayed at all. However, the positioning capability of a widget in the window is not strong, and the user's code is slightly bent, ve does not know where the control is generated, and at most it can only be displayed, but cannot be edited visually.

4). The Code edited by ve 3.1 is included in VE 3.2, and it is completely different.

5) installation is troublesome. You need to install more than one auxiliary plug-in on your own.

To sum up, VE is "not available"

2. SWT-designer

SWT-designer is widely recognized as the most powerful plug-in for GUI development in Eclipse: http://www.swt-designer.com /. Many eclipse books directly use SWT-designer to explain how to develop GUI programs in eclipse. However, SWT-designer is a paid plug-in. The basic version is free of charge and features are greatly restricted. Of course, there is also a full version of the cracked version on the Internet. SWT-designer is relatively large, and the latest 6.0 installation file contains dozens of MB, which can be considered powerful.

3. jigloo

Jigloo charges fees in a strict sense, but it provides the non_commercial version, which features exactly the same as that of commercial http://www.cloudgarden.com/jigloo /. Personal development is unrestricted. Jigloo is very small, the latest version is more than 3 MB, and the installation is relatively simple.

Jigloo supports both SWT and swing.

Jigloo is completely based on Java code, but its code parse is far better than VE and faster. At least a lot of problems have occurred in the VE. The visual class that cannot be displayed can be edited well under jigloo. So far, no jigloo can be edited, and a parse error occurs. Jigloo can also integrate the support of a well-written Java GUI-style code, which is more powerful than ve.

Of course, the plug-in with more than 3 MB is better than the full version of SWT-designer, but it is much better than the basic version. SWT-designer is not fully developed based on Java, for example, in Windows, it also carries DLL files. Jigloo is fully developed based on Java. It downloads only one class ZIP file and supports online installation of Eclipse.

Ii. Installation and Use of jigloo

Jigloo is easy to install. Just like other Eclipse plug-ins, you don't need any installation programs. Just extract them.

Create a new window and enter File> New> others> GUI forms.

To open an existing visual class, right-click it and select open with-> form editor. First, code parse is required. However, this speed is very fast and a JVM does not need to be started like VE.

The following figure shows how jigloo is used in Eclipse:

Iii. Summary

According to the three major eclipse GUI development plug-ins, basically all are based on Java code GUI editing management. This type of editor management, of course, is much more difficult to manage Windows interface programs than previously in Visual C. However, many existing IDES, such as Visual Studio. NET and 2005, can still be done quickly. It mainly depends on the code parsing capability.

The shortcomings of VE have been summarized many times. I don't know when this official plug-in will be truly reassuring. As a developer, I still want to work hard on VE. After all, VE is open-source and can be used at will.

SWT-designer features the most powerful, but the price is not low. Jigloo is between the two. For individual developers, jigloo can be used for free, and its functions are sufficient to develop a variety of large-scale GUI applications. Therefore, jigloo is a suitable choice.