On several occasions, contributors to this list (including myself) have suggested that IDEA include a GUI designer. This is something for which IDEA has been criticized in recent reviews. Other contributors have rightfully stated that GUI designers tend to produce bloated, inefficient code. However, going back and modifying or tweaking the interface tends to be harder that way, since it involves a tweak-compile-run cycle for each change, whereas visual tools allow instant feedback.
In my own work, it is sometimes beneficial to get a rapid GUI design up and running (i.e., RAD). I'd like to optimize the GUI later yet still be able to modify it. JBuilder and NetBeans have a feature that is a crude step in that direction: you build a GUI with an XYLayout, then later convert it to a more efficient GridBoxLayout. I believe that IDEA can improve on this process, allowing both fast/simple RAD and efficient code. I propose a GUI designer that uses the typical Java Layout managers with "two-way" code generation as in JBuilder (i.e., GUI design and code kept in sync). A "Refactor GUI" command would then examine the view hierarchy of the GUI and generate the equivalent GUI using more efficient layout managers and code. In this manner, IDEA would gain the GUI tools similar to those of JBuilder, NetBeans/Forte and Visual Cafe. However, IDEA would be miles ahead in that it could accelerate and simplify application building while simultaneously improving code quality. Scott Steinman [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ Eap-features mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellij.com/mailman/listinfo/eap-features
