Using Scala with Java Swing classes is pretty seamless

By Alvin Alexander. Last updated: August 6, 2022

If you ever wanted to use Scala with Java Swing classes (like JFrame, JTextArea, JScrollPane, etc.), the process is pretty seamless. Here’s an example of a simple Scala/Swing application where I show a text area in a JFrame:

import java.awt.BorderLayout
import java.awt.Dimension
import javax.swing.JFrame
import javax.swing.JScrollPane
import javax.swing.JTextArea

object SwingExample extends App {

    val textArea = new JTextArea("Hello, Swing world")
    val scrollPane = new JScrollPane(textArea)

    val frame = new JFrame("Hello, Swing")
    frame.getContentPane.add(scrollPane, BorderLayout.CENTER)
    frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE)
    frame.setSize(new Dimension(600, 400))
    frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null)
    frame.setVisible(true)

}

Technically you’ll want to display the JFrame the way I show in How to create, center, and display a Java JFrame, but this code gives you an idea of how the process works.

I’ve written much larger applications with Scala and Swing, but for today I just wanted to share some code to show that it’s a very straightforward process.

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Using Scala with Java Swing classes is pretty seamless

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