Java Graphics -- Drawing Strings on JFrame

Question

Hello and thank you. I'm relatively young and I apologize for asking noob questions. The problem I am having is that I realized after 3 hours of research and then writing this code that when multiple JPanels are added to a JFrame, they overlap (I think) over each other. As a result, the output of this program below is at the bottom right of the frame, the number 841 appears (the last number in my array) and everything else is blank.
And I could not at all understand how to create graphics objects. It kept giving me an error of not being able to be instantiated. And to be honest, I don't even really understand whats going on when I add the text to my JPanel. I never call paintComponents. And definately I could never even make a graphics object to provide it the parameter required. Anyway, I resolved to use Jpanels because they can be removed using the remove function of the JFrame. And It is vitally important that I can delete the strings off my frame. Here is my code:
package main;
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.util.*;
public class VisualFrame extends JFrame{
    ArrayList<JPanel> numbers = new ArrayList<JPanel>();
    public VisualFrame(){
        setSize(1000, 500);
        setTitle("Binary Search");
        setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        setVisible(true);
    public void createPanels(int[] array){
        int x = 10;
        int y = 20;
        int xOffset = 50;
        int yOffset = 50;
        for(int i=0; i<array.length; i++){
            String num = Integer.toString(array);
numPanel panel = new numPanel(num, x, y);
numbers.add(panel);
add(panel);
x = x+xOffset;
if(x>this.getWidth()){
x = 10;
y = y+yOffset;
class numPanel extends JPanel{
String num;
int x;
int y;
public numPanel(String str, int x, int y){
num = str;
this.x = x;
this.y = y;
public void paintComponent(Graphics g){
g.setColor(Color.black);
g.setFont(new Font("Times", Font.BOLD, 12));
g.drawString(num, x, y);
My main method is inside of a different class:
    public static void main(String[] args){
        VisualFrame frame = new VisualFrame();
        frame.createPanels(array);
    }Firstly, do I even have the problem I'm having right? If so,
Is there a way to restrict the size of the panels to the length and width of what it contains?
Or can someone give me a good, very detailed link to how to use Graphics? Or perhaps someone could prove to me a good method.
Edited by: 989946 on Mar 8, 2013 6:45 PM

Answer 1

Why don't you start by learning from the experts?
The Java Tutorial has sections that show how to use Java functionality.
http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/
The Graphiics section covers GUI and Swing
http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/index.html
>
Creating Graphical User Interfaces
Creating a GUI with Swing — A comprehensive introduction to GUI creation on the Java platform.
>
And that section has links for trails such as how to use ALL of the different swing components including frames and panels
http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/components/index.html
>
Using Swing Components tells you how to use each of the Swing components — buttons, tables, text components, and all the rest. It also tells you how to use borders and icons.