Guided Task: WolfSchedulerGUI
Up to this point, you’ve been working with model classes. Model classes represent the data and business logic of an application and are part of the Model-View-Controller (MVC) design pattern. MVC provides a separation of the major areas of a large application.
- Model: data and business logic
- View: view that the users interact with
- Controller: connection between the view and the model
In Java, you can create Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) using the Swing libraries. The Swing libraries provide both the view and the controller aspects of MVC. In Swing, the view is the look and feel of the application and includes form elements and how they are organized. The controller is the functionality that connects to the underlying model when the user interacts with the GUI by clicking a button or interacts with other form elements.
You are still learning all of the skills needed to write a GUI. You’ll have the opportunity to write your own (small) GUI later this semester. Until then, the teaching staff will provide you with GUIs for your Guided Projects, projects, and labs.
Learning Outcomes
- Create
WolfSchedulerGUI
Reminder: Eclipse Artifact Creation
Reminders about Eclipse code creation features:
Add the GUI Class
You’ll need to create a package for the GUI class, which we typically put in a package with ui in the package name. This helps separate the user interface or GUI code from the model portion of the program.
Create edu.ncsu.csc216.wolf_scheduler.ui Package
Create a new package called edu.ncsu.csc216.wolf_scheduler.ui in the src folder of the WolfScheduler project.
Create WolfSchedulerGUI Class
Create a new Java class called WolfSchedulerGUI in the edu.ncsu.csc216.wolf_scheduler.ui package of the src source directory of the WolfScheduler project.
Copy the code from `WolfSchedulerGUI.java into your Eclipse file.
Everything should compile. If not, you may have a misspelled method name in one of the other classes. Fix your classes; do NOT change the GUI!
Reference: Staging and Pushing to GitHub
GitHub Resources:
Check Your Progress
Before moving on to the next portion of the Guided Project, complete the following tasks:
- Make sure that all fields, methods, and constructors are commented.
- Resolve all static analysis notifications.
- Fix test failures.
- Commit and push your code changes with a meaningful commit message. Label your commit with “[GUI]” for future you!