Hi,
I begin to play around with IDEA 12.1 GUI Designer on Linux (Xubuntu 12.10 x64). I follow the instructions here: www.jetbrains.com/idea/features/gui_builder.html
In my case, it's just a button, a text filed and a label. The JPanel has Layout = GridLayoutManager (IntelliJ). The form is ugly beyond belief.
[IMG]http://i50.tinypic.com/295tqhi.png[/IMG]
I wonder how big tools like IntelliJ Idea or Eclipse are designed. Do they use the same Jave GUI components? Are they designed in Java? Because they look very OK. The form I got from the little test above is a grey form that has looks totally different than the graphical theme of my OS. In addition, I cannot even control the placement and the size of the graphical components.
I am more familiar with WinForm (.NET C# VisualStudio). In a few mouse clicks, I can design a very professional looking form. I can still admit that the free IJ Community Edition GUI Designer could not rivale with Visual Studio Professional. I am willing to accept some inconveniences. But what I don't understand is why the placement of the graphical components are so complicate. And I have no idea from where Java decides on the look of the form, button, fonts, textboxes, etc. Where does it get this style from? Is there anyway to make a decent looking GUI Form?
Thanks in advance for any help.