JavaFX and Swing for Awesome Java UIs

What will I learn?

• Build sophisticated user interfaces in Java, both in JavaFX and in Swing
• Use menus, trees, buttons, tables and all the important standard UI-building techniques - both in JavaFX and in Swing
• Use Scenebuilder and FXML to effortlessly create UIs using dependency injection
• Blur the lines between web and app development by using JavaScript and CSS
• Build business apps with charts and tables that rival spreadsheets like MS-Excel
• Leverage the power of Properties and Bindings to get the little details right
• Build 3D animations in JavaFX
• Use JavaFX Media support - build an entire, fully functional media player, and also know the limits of Java media capabilities
• Understand the MVC paradigm and the observer and command patterns that underpin virtually all modern UI frameworks

About the course

• Taught by a Stanford-educated, ex-Googler, husband-wife team
• Hundreds of lines of source code with hundreds of lines of code - just download and open in your IDE

A definitive guide to JavaFX, and a comprehensive guide to Swing are packed into this intensely practical, quirky guide to building awesome UIs in Java

Let's phrase that.

• This course is a definitive guide to JavaFX: every important part of the framework is covered in great detail, with sophisticated examples and context
• The course is a comprehensive guide to Swing: you will be able to build sophisticated, clean Swing apps, and employ every important technique.
• The course is intensely practical, packed with dozens of examples and hundreds of lines of included source code.
• The course is also quirky. The examples are irreverent. Lots of little touches: repetition, zooming out so we remember the big picture, active learning with plenty of quizzes. There’s also a peppy soundtrack, and art - all shown by studies to improve cognition and recall.

What's Covered

• JavaFX: JavaFX as the evolutionary successor of Swing; Javascript and CSS support; FXML and SceneBuilder; how FXML and Dependency Injection work; zippy synching with Properties and Bindings; 3D Animations; 2D Animations (Transitions and Timelines); Charting - for the first time in Java; Media support, and building a real Media Player; Image handling and animated GIF construction; multi-threading in JavaFX; plus all the standard stuff: menus, trees, browser controls;
• Swing: Framework basics; JFrames, JPanels and JComponents; Menus and menu handling; Trees and their nuances; File choosers, buttons, browser controls
• Design: The MVC Paradigm, Observer and Command Design Patterns; Dependency Injection via FXML

Programming Drills (code-alongs, with source code included)

• A News Curation app to summarise newspaper articles into a concise email snippet
• Animated GIF generation, using Java Image libraries as well multi-threading support
• A fully fledged Media Player to play MP3 and MP4 files; complex wiring up of UI elements to make sure the little details (volume control, position sliders) work right
• 2D Animations to rival those available in Powerpoint and other presentation software
• 3D Animations including moving cameras, rotation and transition of 3D shapes
• Bubble Charts and Tables to represent revenue, market valuation and growth of a set of companies - a business app as good as Excel
• Javascript and CSS examples that show how these incredibly powerful tools can be used inside a Java UI app
• SceneBuilder and FXML support, so that design and implementation can be divvied up between designers and software engineers

Who should take the course?

• Yep! UI engineers looking for a definitive resource on JavaFX, the future of Java UI programming
• Yep! UI engineers looking for a comprehensive first-principles guide to Swing, the most popular UI programming framework right now
• Yep! Back-end engineers seeking a one-stop-shop course for building awesome front-ends
• Nope! This course is not right for you if you are looking for a Programming 101 course. You should have a good grasp of programming, ideally in Java, to benefit from this course
• Nope! This course is probably not right for you if you are a product manager or tech investor - this course is pretty much exclusively focused on the "how", not the "what"

Pre-requisites & Requirements

• Prerequisites: Basic understanding of Java

• Programming expertise at the level of a Programming 101 Class, preferably in Java.