Using Abstract Windowing Toolkit (AWT) In Applications - Read On….Its Not That Abstract (
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Abstract Windowing Toolkit: The Abstract Windowing Toolkit (AWT) is a package that provides an integrated set of classes that enable you to create a graphical user interface and receive user input from mouse and keyboard. Because Java is a platform–independent language, the AWT offers a way to design an interface that will have the same general appearance and functionality on all systems it runs on.
Using the AWT, a user interface consists of three things:
•Components: Anything that can be put onto user interface including components like windows, buttons, check boxes, dialog boxes, lists, menus, scrollbars, and text fields. The Component class, which implements the common functionality, is the super class for all graphical interface elements.
•Container: A component that can contain other components. A classic example is the Applet window and others include panel, dialog boxes, standalone windows.
•Layout Manager: An object that defines how the components in a container will be arranged. You don’t see the Layout Manager in an interface, but you definitely see the results of its work on the look and feel of your GUI.
The AWT’s classes are all part of the java.awt package. To make all of its classes available in a program, the following statement can be used at the top of a source code file.
Import java.awt.*;
This imports the entire components, containers and layout manager that you will use to design an interface. You can also use individual import statements with the classes you are using in a program. The AWT’s classes like all parts of the Java class library are arranged into inheritance hierarchy.
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