From time-to-time, I have posted various bits of advice on Java coding. Some of the more general ones I've collected here.

How to start writing a Java program

A working interactive program with notes on how to adapt it to be your own application.

User Interface Tricks

Various tools and techniques for user interface programming. Especially highlighting the use of HTMLEditorKit to create flexible, discursive user interfaces.

Scaling Pages and Images

For a photo tagging application I wanted to relate a real world map to an on-screen map. This note describes how to convert co-ordinates between the two.

Exception Handling in PDFBox

The developers of PDF Box were debating how to handle exceptions. In this note, my bottom line was to suggest reduced reliance on exceptions.

Displaying a List of Colors

How best to display color alternatives in two-dimensions? Try your luck.

Demo Programs

To run the demo of these various programs, download Examples & Sources and double click it. (You must have Java installed.) The installer will unwrap itself into its current directory. Therein double click the "JavaNotes.jar" icon. It will display a menu of the various demo programs.

src	Jdoc	class	Essay	note
		ComboBoxRenderer.java		Demonstration of how to write a Combobox with arbitrary contents; in this case color swatched
		ZBScrollPane.java		How to control the distance scrolled by the mouse wheel and the arrows at the ends of a scrollbar
		JEditStyles.java		How to define styles and use them in a JEditPane
		SamplePanel.java		Rudimentary graphics program suitable for expansion into an app.
		MakeColorPage.java		Generates a page displaying the named colors.
		PCASortColors.java		Provides several methods to sort color tables.