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<meta name="author" content="Karsten Lentzsch">
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<h1>:: Tips & Tricks ::</h1>
<h2>Consistency</h2>
To design consistently over panels, team members, projects and platforms:
<ul>
<li>Favor factories over builders
<li>Favor builders over a pure FormLayout use
<li>Favor logical sizes over constant sizes
<li>Avoid pixel-sizes
<li>Make your layouts stable - use bounded sizes
<li>Follow a layout style guide
</ul>
<h2>Good Design Practices</h2>
<ul>
<li>Group columns where appropriate
<li>Group component rows
<li>Balance your design
<li>Consider to use symmetry
<li>Favor white space over separators
<li>Favor separators over <tt>TitledBorders</tt>
<li>Remove visual clutter
<li>Reduce your design to its essence
<li>Add white space where appropriate
<li>Use aesthetic aspect ratios
</ul>
<h2>Good Implementation Practices</h2>
<ul>
<li>Favor factories over builders
<li>Favor specialized over general builders
<li>Favor a panel border over border cols/rows
<li>Favor a logical border over constant borders
<li>Use a simple grid; extract complex sublayouts
<li>Make your layout easy to read:
<ul>
<li>favor string col/row specifications over object specs
<li>format your layout specification
<li>format your builder code to reflect the layout grid
<li>specify columns statically
</ul>
<li>Make simple layouts easy to understand:
<ul>
<li>specify rows statically if there are only a couple of rows
<li>favor row numbers over row variables
<li>favor static cell constraints over tricky builder cursor commands
<li>You should have more components than builder commands
</ul>
<li>Make larger layouts easy to modify:
<ul>
<li>favor row variables over row numbers
<li>favor the DefaultFormBuilder over PanelBuilder
</ul>
<li>Favor using and vending JPanels over extending JPanel
</ul>
<h2>Precise Layout</h2>
<ul>
<li>Favor non-pixel sizes over pixel-sizes
<li>Favor Forms builders over the FormLayout
<li>Favor a single layout over nested layouts
<li>Group component rows
<li>Override a component's min/pref size methods judiciously
<li>Avoid to set a component's min/pref (pixel) size
<li>Use look&feels that provide a precise micro-design
</ul>
<h2>General Advice on Builders</h2>
Write layout code that is easy to understand!
Explicit row specifications and cell constraints make your
layout easier to understand - but harder to maintain.
It is temptive to use the DefaultFormBuilder all the time and
to let it add rows automatically. Use a simpler style if
it increases the code readability.
<p>If the predefined builders don't fit your needs, write your own!
<p>
The given code is meant to assist you, but it should in no way
stiffle your creativity.
The Forms implementation just reflects the current state of
<i>my</i> findings about good design and implementation practices.
If you've found something other useful, don't hesitate to extend
the Forms. I would appreciate if you send me your extension.
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