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The Swing component of the Java programming language is the main focus of Programming with JFC. Swing is a toolkit for simplifying and streamlining the development of the windowing components, namely the visual components (such as menus, toolbars, dialog boxes, and so on) that are used in GUI-based programs. More information about Swing can be found at the Swing Connection home page. If you are short on cash, you could glean the bulk of the information provided by Programming with JFC from the free resources available online at the Swing Connection and save yourself fifty dollars.
With Java, of course, you can write programs once for different platforms. Swing components let you design them in such a way that they will execute without modification on any kind of computer with the identical look and feel of the operating system. As an example, when you create a program with Swing for Windows 95, it looks and feels like an application written specifically for Windows 95. When you run the same program under Solaris, it runs like an application written explicitly for Solaris.
Programming with JFC begins with an overview of Swing programming and Swing specific component. The authors detail the difference between what the Java Abstract Window Toolkit (AWT) offers as opposed to the Swing-based model-view-controller (MVC) architecture. More precisely, Swing sits on top of a number of the AWT APIs.
The majority of the book presents the features of Swing, from its user-interface classes to its controls and implementation. The authors start with simple controls before moving onto advanced controls such as trees and tables.
The book comes with the requisite CD-ROM that includes numerous examples, source code, and a library of ready-to-use GUI components. Similar material is also available via Swing Connection.
Overall, the book is an excellent introduction to JFC. Although it is not a definitive or comprehensive guide to Swing, it does cover most of its important aspects.
-- Ben Rothke