Write the GUI programmatically, or use the advanced GUI editor (Java Swing)?

I intend to write a swing based application (using NetBeans 6.8)

It seems that NetBeans has a very advanced GUI editor... I still doubt the code it generates In addition, I don't like the fact that parts of the code are locked (I still understand the need)

Has anyone successfully used NetBeans GUI editor? Does it scale?

Solution

Yes, the NetBeans GUI builder is one of the best It was particularly impressed by its ability to handle the notorious gridbaglayout

According to my experience, Borland JBuilder is the best round-trip GUI editor; If I remember correctly, it generates code without a "locked area" and usually continues to use the GUI code you manually adjusted

However, I haven't found a Java Swing GUI editor yet. It won't occasionally block the complex layout, that is, enter a state where further editing is no longer feasible and / or some backup or repair is required

Therefore, I prefer to write all GUIs manually Heinz kabutz of Java specialties told me that his GUI editor was vim But I admit that most of my other friends and colleagues think I'm crazy