Controlling the re-sizing of widgets:

Question

I have read several Swing tutorials, but many are limited in their scope.
I have been searching for a way to control the resizing of my JPanels and widgets.
A solution I found is to use transparent JPanels that have no content or borders. I give them weights and directions that serve as counter-weights for the JPanels I want to display and control the sizing of. Here is my code:
public class Main extends JPanel {
    public Main() {
        super(new GridBagLayout());
        GridBagLayout gbLayout = (GridBagLayout) getLayout();
        setPreferredSize(new Dimension(250, 200));
        JPanel configPanel = new JPanel();
        configPanel.setBorder(new LineBorder(Color.blue, 2));
        configPanel.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(100, 50));
        GridBagConstraints configPanelGBConstraints = new GridBagConstraints();
        configPanelGBConstraints.fill = GridBagConstraints.HORIZONTAL;
        configPanelGBConstraints.anchor = GridBagConstraints.FIRST_LINE_START;
        configPanelGBConstraints.weightx = 0.4f;
        gbLayout.setConstraints(configPanel, configPanelGBConstraints);
        add(configPanel);
        JPanel padding = new JPanel(); // <--- empty JPanel that servers as a counter-weight to control the sizing of "configPanel"
        padding.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(150, 50));
        GridBagConstraints paddingGBConstraints = new GridBagConstraints();
        paddingGBConstraints.fill = GridBagConstraints.HORIZONTAL;
        paddingGBConstraints.anchor = GridBagConstraints.FIRST_LINE_END;
        paddingGBConstraints.weightx = 0.7f;
        gbLayout.setConstraints(padding, paddingGBConstraints);
        add(padding);
}So far, this is working ok.
Resizing objects in a JFrame is extremely important, and I'd like to ask if this is a "standard practices" way to handle re-sizing?
Maybe later on, I will get bitten by this bad technique?
What do good Swing programmers do?
Thanks.

Answer 1

camickr wrote:
A solution I found is to use transparent JPanelsYou could probably use Box.getHorizontalStrut(...) instead.
But I don't know exactly what you are trying to achieve and the code is not executable.
If you need further help then you need to create a [Short, Self Contained, Compilable and Executable, Example Program (SSCCE)|http://homepage1.nifty.com/algafield/sscce.html], that demonstrates the incorrect behaviour.
sorry, I should of posted all my code that compiles:
import java.lang.*;
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.border.*;
public class Main extends JPanel {
    public Main() {
        super(new GridBagLayout());
        GridBagLayout gbLayout = (GridBagLayout) getLayout();
        setPreferredSize(new Dimension(250, 200));
        JPanel configPanel = new JPanel();
        configPanel.setBorder(new LineBorder(Color.blue, 2));
        configPanel.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(100, 50));
        GridBagConstraints configPanelGBConstraints = new GridBagConstraints();
        configPanelGBConstraints.fill = GridBagConstraints.HORIZONTAL;
        configPanelGBConstraints.anchor = GridBagConstraints.FIRST_LINE_START;
        configPanelGBConstraints.weightx = 0.4f;
        gbLayout.setConstraints(configPanel, configPanelGBConstraints);
        add(configPanel);
        JPanel counterweight = new JPanel();
        counterweight.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(150, 50));
        GridBagConstraints counterweightGBConstraints = new GridBagConstraints();
        counterweightGBConstraints.fill = GridBagConstraints.HORIZONTAL;
        counterweightGBConstraints.anchor = GridBagConstraints.FIRST_LINE_END;
        counterweightGBConstraints.weightx = 0.7f;
        gbLayout.setConstraints(counterweight, counterweightGBConstraints);
        add(counterweight);
    public static void createAndShowGUI() {
        JFrame mainFrame = new JFrame("test");
        mainFrame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        JComponent newContentPane = new Main();
        newContentPane.setOpaque(true);
        mainFrame.setContentPane(newContentPane);
        mainFrame.pack();
        mainFrame.setVisible(true);
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        javax.swing.SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
            public void run() {
                createAndShowGUI();
}This works.
So, I am just wondering if I should use the general construct that for every JComponent, it often makes sense to use an equal and opposing (sometimes transparent) JComponent to control its re-sizing?