Synth needs you!
I am working on Synth at Sun Microsystems and I need your help to improve it. You can read the whole story on my new java.net blog. Don't worry, this blog will not close, far from it. You can expect a cool news later today :)
Pretty Swing UI
You can run the WebStart application or, as usual, download its source code. Simulation d'un Atelier de Production is an application I and some friends wrote for practical work at school. Since it has been mostly written in two nights, the result is not complete and lacks some polish. Basically this application is supposed to [...]
Java Internal Use License
Sun has freshly released the Java Internal Use License. Basically you can modify the JDK and deploy the result with your application, for internal use. Now that's what I call a great news!
Performance Boost in Follow The Curves
Greg Tangey decided to lower the CPU usage of the Follow the Curves demo. And he did well. According to his blog, he decreased the CPU usage from 70% to 8%. That's a huge improvement. I hereby apologize to Dim who suggested to cache the gradient. I honestly believed this wasn't a bottleneck but it [...]
Flash Lite (Swing demo)
You can run the WebStart demo or, as usual, download its source code. The demos Help Your Shelf and Follow The Curves seriously reminds me of Flash animations. Sure, Flash is really easy, at least for graphics designers, but Swing and Java2D let you do some simple animations that can look really cool. Flash Lite [...]
Swing Hacks? Incoming!
Swing Hacks, by Joshua Marinacci and Chris Adamson, is coming real soon. The best way to describe it is to quote the official description from O'Reilly web site: This latest title from O'Reilly is a reference to the cool stuff in Swing. It's about the interesting things you learn over the years–creative, original, even weird [...]
Help Your Shelf (waiting dialog for Swing)
You can run the WebStart demo or, as usual, download its source code. Run the demo, seriously guys :) Since many people liked the Follow The Curves demo, I decided to extend it. I am using the same kind of design to show a waiting dialog. This dialog is shown after the login screen and [...]
Adaptive Performances
My last demo uses CPU intensive graphics. I hacked the code a little bit to adapt the performances to the CPU power and activity. Basically, the application computes the time taken by the last painting phase and change its behavior accordingly. In the case of Follow The Curves, each painting should be done in 50 [...]
Follow The Curves (Swing Demo)
You can run the WebStart demo or, as usual, download its source code. Run the demo, seriously guys :) Many applications, especially in corporate environments, ask the user to enter a login (and very often, a password as well) when it starts. Unfortunately most of these applications display a boring welcome screen which gives you [...]
Next Gen
After the XBox 360 unveiled last week, here comes the Sony Playstation 3. You can see pictures and detailled characteristics on GameSpot, IGN and GameKult. Like Microsot’s product, the PS3 is white-dressed and offers mind-blowing computing power. I really like its slick design. The PS3 also offers an incredible amount of connectivity ports and you [...]
23
I turned 23 today. That means I still have dozens of years to do cool things \o/
Hail to the new JRoller!
I like it, Matthew Schmidt did a great job here!
SwingFX
Believe it or not, but I actually updated SwingFX tonight. I added the PerformanceInfiniteProgressPanel I talked about in a previous entry. This new version performs even better thanks to the work Henry Story did. If you want to use the Wait With Style effect in one of your Swing application, you are strongly advised to [...]
The Invisible Computer
I am currently reading The Invisble Computer by Donald A. Norman. This book is one of the most interesting I have read lately and the best way to summarize it is simply to quote the author himself: “Why good products can fail, the personal computer is so complex, and Information Appliance are the solution”. Donald [...]
Know Your Worst Friend, the Garbage Collector
At last, the Java Developers Journal has published my article, Know Your Worst Friend, the Garbage Collector in the issue of May. I hope you will like it \o/ You can download the digital edition for free.
Archives updated
I just updated the archives. Next time, preferably tomorrow, I will show you another demo (which you might not like :) and speak about the Synth look and feel for Swing.
My Darkest Secret
It is now time to tell you my darkest secret: I am a Microsoft MVS (Most Valuable Student). Seriously.
Wobbling Options UI
You can run the WebStart demo or, as usual, download its source code. Almost every application provides a nice options dialog in which you can, well, change some values to adapt the appearance of the behavior of the application. These options dialog alway contain a Save or Ok button and a Cancel one. Some applications [...]
Every UI Designer Should…
…buy a Nintendo DS. No, there is no typo in the title. Besides, I'll say it again, with emphasis this time: every UI designer should buy a Nintendo DS. Now, for those who don't know what a Nintendo DS is, I have two hints for you. First, shame on you. Definitely. This is one of [...]
Drag n' Splash Swing Demo
Update: I fixed two bugs and reduce the size of the window to speed up the effect. Video: You can watch a video. Windows only, I'm sorry guys but the codec used for recording does not work well on my computer. You can run the WebStart demo or, as usual, download its source code. Being [...]
Swing and UI Design Index
I just created an index for the entries I find the most interesting on this blog. You can visit this page to read entries about Swing or UI Design you might have missed. I will keep this list updated by sorting the entries in different categories. I hope you’ll like it :)
A History of the GUI
Ars Technica got a very nice article bout the history of the GUI. It contains interesting stories about the origins of the GUI I have never heard of before. Also, I just went to the Sun Campus in Santa Clara to have a lunch with a few guys from the Java client team and it [...]
Quartz Composer, Next
While on the plane I decided to start learning Quartz Composer and this application is even better than I thought at first. As a reminder, Quarte Composer is a developer application you can install on MacOS X 10.4 along with Xcode 2.0. It is located in /Developer/Applications/Graphics Tools. This folder also contains the wonderful Core [...]
Incredible Swing Application
Jasper Potts sent me an email with a link to his company's product Imagery. This is a really great looking application. Seriously, after seeing the screenshot I just want to try it. Unfortunately we'll have to wait for the first public releases. I'm glad to see what people are doing with Swing today :)
