Mark Steenbarger

Since the introduction of the Java Foundation Classes (JFC), Java applications have been able to be implemented using a rich set of window components. These components - called Swing - along with customizable "look and feel," allow applications to be implemented without relying on a native windowing system. With the release of Java 2 (a.k.a. JDK 1.2), the JFC has found a permanent home as part of the JDK rather than being distributed separately. Swing includes two very powerful but complex components called JTable and JTree. This article focuses solely on the JTree and explores various aspects of the JTree by using two examples that show how business objects can be visually represented within the JTree component. Using the Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern, originally from Smalltalk, the majority of the Swing classes are implemented by using a variation of the MVC ... (more)