I happened to create a new Java Desktop Application project in the Netbeans 6.9 IDE. And t his is the Disclaimer which followed:
Note that JSR-296 (Swing Application Framework) is no longer developed and will not become part of the official Java Development Kit as was originally planned. You can still use the Swing Application Framework library as it is, but no further development is expected.
If you are looking for a Swing-based application framework, consider using the NetBeans Platform platform.netbeans.org, which is a full-featured platform suitable for creating complex and scalable desktop applications. The Platform contains APIs that simplify the handling of windows, actions, files, and many other typical application elements.
The JSR-296 states the Status as Inactive– which means no longer supported? The wiki here says Currently put on hold. Also the JDK 7 features lists that JSR 296: Swing application framework has been postponed to JDK 8 or later. Geertjan’s written here that one of the application was ported from Swing to Netbeans platform. This article links to a lot of resources related to JSR-296 moving out. Otherwise also the article explains lot of other features part/not part of JDK 7- I need to take time to read the article.
Also JavaFX 2.0 is coming up with a better integration with Java for creating UI applications. And there are already lot of UI frameworks for Desktop applications- AIR, Griffon, SWT, any other? So that means its the end of our beloved JFrames?
Update: Got to know the Swing Application Framework(SAF) (JSR-296) is different from the Swing library which comes with JDK. (Read the comments below). So Swing still will be shipped with the JDK 🙂 Had never used SAF before, but the disclaimer in Netbeans caught my attention and thought it to be Swing.
The “Swing Application Framework” aka JSR 296 is a lightweight framework for creating basic Swing applications. SAF has been and out of JDK 7 over time and eventually fell off the list (partly because key people left Sun).
SAF is not “Swing”, which has been updated in several ways for JDK 7 and is alive and well.
Oh Thanks a lot for the clarification. Didn’t know that SAF is really different from Swing. Yeah also the new look and feel- Nimbus is also a good addition which is already available.
Swing is not Swing Application Framework! Swing is ofcourse still supported. Also, the deprecation of JSR-296 is not exactly news. Did you really ever use JSR-296? It was never a capable or complete framework…
I haven’t used JSR-296 before. I wasnt aware of the fact that SAF and Swing are different. Thanks for pointing that out. 🙂