RKTechGame | Introduction to AWT and Swing in Java

What is AWT (Abstract Window Toolkit)?

AWT Java ka ek purana GUI toolkit hai jisme platform-dependent components hote hain. Matlab ye components host operating system ke widgets par dependent hain. Isme buttons, labels, text fields jese basic GUI elements available hain.

It is part of java.awt package.
Components are heavyweight (native peers).
Platform dependent look and feel hota hai.
Less customizable aur thoda slow in execution compared to Swing.

What is Swing?

Swing Java ke liye ek advanced lightweight GUI toolkit hai. Ye pure Java me likha gaya hai aur platform independent hi look and feel deta hai. Swing me advanced components jaise tables, trees, tabbed panes, dialogs etc hote hain.

Part of javax.swing package.
Lightweight components (no native peers).
Highly customizable with pluggable look and feel.
Supports MVC architecture for better design.

Difference Between AWT and Swing

Feature	AWT	Swing
Package	java.awt	javax.swing
Component Type	Heavyweight (native peers)	Lightweight (Java-based)
Platform Dependency	Dependent on OS	Platform-independent
Look and Feel	Native OS look	Customizable, pluggable
Execution Speed	Relatively slower	Faster
MVC Support	No	Yes
Advanced Components	Limited	Rich components like JTable, JTree, JTabbedPane

Simple AWT Example

import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;

public class AWTExample extends Frame {
  Label label;
  TextField textField;
  Button button;

  public AWTExample() {
    setLayout(new FlowLayout());

    label = new Label("Name:");
    textField = new TextField(20);
    button = new Button("Submit");

    add(label);
    add(textField);
    add(button);

    button.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
      public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
        System.out.println("AWT Button clicked! Input: " + textField.getText());
      }
    });

    setTitle("AWT Example");
    setSize(300, 150);
    setVisible(true);
  }

  public static void main(String[] args) {
    new AWTExample();
  }
}

Simple Swing Example

import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;

public class SwingExample extends JFrame {
  JTextField textField;
  JButton button;

  public SwingExample() {
    setLayout(new FlowLayout());

    textField = new JTextField(20);
    button = new JButton("Submit");

    add(new JLabel("Name:"));
    add(textField);
    add(button);

    button.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
      public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
        System.out.println("Swing Button clicked! Input: " + textField.getText());
      }
    });

    setTitle("Swing Example");
    setSize(300, 150);
    setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
    setVisible(true);
  }

  public static void main(String[] args) {
    new SwingExample();
  }
}