When I first tried out the NetBeans GUI Builder Matisse, I was as skeptical as I would be with any Java GUI builder. They never turn out to be exactly what you’d expect; even IDEA’s designer, simplifying GridBagLayout to just a few clicks and properties, doesn’t have the same feel as Visual Studio 2005.

Whatever my feelings were before trying Matisse, I was surprised after using it: Not only did Matisse do everything I expected a GUI editor to do, it even offered new features that really made me raise an eyebrow wondering, “Why did no one else think of this before?”

In this article I will present the features I enjoyed best in Matisse, and then suggest a few features I would like to see in future releases.

• VisualStudio User Tries Matisse

Developing graphical user interfaces (GUIs) used to be a tricky part of Java technology programming. Although Java Foundation Classes/Swing (JFC/Swing) technology has been around for quite a while, designing professional-looking, cross-platform GUIs can be tedious and prone to error. All this has changed with NetBeans IDE 5.0 and Project Matisse.

NetBeans IDE software engineer Roman Strobl interviews Project Matisse creators Scott Violet and Tomas Pavek.

The Next Wave of GUIs: Project Matisse and NetBeans IDE 5.0

Michael Urban wrote “One of the biggest frustrations with GUI design in Java is struggling with layout managers to get complex forms to look good. However, that will all soon be a thing of the past. ”

“…Think he is using absolute positioning? He’s not. That’s a new feature called Matisse. What is so magic about it? Matisse lets you design your form as if you were using absolute positioning. You simply drag your components to where you want them and set them to the size you want by dragging. NetBeans takes care of figuring out what layout managers are needed, and of writing all of the code for you to make your form look the way you design it using ‘Drag, drop, and stretch’…”

See example Flash demo and get more info on the Matisse GUI Designer at Javalobby at the link below.

* Coming Soon: Magic in NetBeans Form Designer. | Javalobby.org

Also see:
* Project Matisse is coming! | Netbeans.org