Best recommendataion to work with one JFrame & Multiple Jpanels(or Windows)

Question

Hi all,
I am a bit new(bie) to Java and Gui but not new to programming.
I need to write an application in using Java. The Current editor I use is Netbeans.
I have a rough idea on how to write this apps, but I would like to confirm if my idea is applicable to such application (from a performance and feasibility standpoint).
The main idea for this application is to have multiple forms that users would populate, and the values entered will be stored in a Database.
I had plan to use only one main Window (JFrame), and no MDI, no multiple Java windows.
My plan was:
-     Create the main form (JFrame) with menus, once the application is loaded, I will check if a database connection is available otherwise open a Jpanel to input database settings (which can be started from the menu).
-     All menus and application/company settings would be set in the main form
-     All features available in the Jpanel would be in a separate class for clarity/lisibility of my code. For instance : user settings would be a separate jpanel class; database settings is a new jpanel class
-     Each Jpanel class would be stored in a separate java/class file.
Here is my test example for now (file MainForm.java) :
import javax.swing.*;
public class MainForm extends JFrame {
    /* Initializing a few variables */
    String databaseServer = null;
    String databaseUserName = null;
    String databasePassword = null;
    /** Creates new form MainForm */
    public MainForm() {
        /* Initializing menus */
        initComponents();
       /* starting a new instance of database configuration */
        DbPanel test = new DbPanel();
    /* Initialization menu and graphical components */
    private void initComponents () {
        JMenuBar BarMenu;
        JMenu MenuConfiguration;
/* �.*/
     BarMenu.add(MenuConfiguration);
     setJMenuBar(BarMenu);
     pack();
     * @param args the command line arguments
    public static void main(String args[]) {
        java.awt.EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
            public void run() {
                new MainForm().setVisible(true);
} Here is my DBpanel class (file MainForm.java) :
public class DbPanel extends javax.swing.JPanel {
    /** Creates new form DbPanel */
    public DbPanel() {
        initComponents();
// <editor-fold defaultstate="collapsed" desc=" Generated Code ">
    private void initComponents() {
        java.awt.Button buttonClose;
        java.awt.Button buttonSave;
        java.awt.TextField dbName;
/* � */
       gridBagConstraints.ipadx = 100;
        gridBagConstraints.insets = new java.awt.Insets(0, 21, 0, 21);
        add(dbPassword, gridBagConstraints);
// </editor-fold>   
}Here are then my questions:
-     Would you think that is a practical plan to write such application?
-     Once I display a Jpanel form and I close it (for instance myJpanel.setVisible=false), will the memory be freed?
-     Is there any other way to remove entire a JPanel from RAM?
-     How can I call my �external� Jpanel ? I have designed one Jpanel class for testing but I was not able to display it when I created the new instance of that class.
-     Is there any other alternative to Jpanel for this application? I was thinking about opening a new window within my Jframe. But, ideally it would be best that multiple windows are not opened simultaneously.
Thanks for your input

Answer 1

I was thinking about this but requirements are the
application development cost should be reduced to the
minimum.
thus one desktop application and one database
server.Application development cost? If you are being paid to do this, the bulk of the cost will be your hourly rate times the number of hours it takes you to do it. Thus you want to minimize the number of hours it takes you to do it. Assuming that the cost of your learning Java is going to be charged to this project, it might well be a good idea for you to do it in a language you already know. Or one where it's easy to develop this sort of application.