Placing components without layout manager not working

Question

Hey there, I am working on a java game version of pong which I have begun to try and do using Java Swing. The problem I am currently having is reposition the components in the main window part of the game which is were the user can start a new game or close the program. I having tried using the absolute positioning by setting the layout manager to null but then everything goes blank. I can't figure out why this is not working. Here is the code so far...
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
public class SwingPractice extends JFrame
    private Container contents;
    private JLabel titleLabel;
    private JButton startGameButton;
    public SwingPractice()
        super("SwingPractice");       
        contents = getContentPane();
        contents.setLayout(null);
        this.getContentPane().setBackground(Color.BLUE);
        startGameButton = new JButton("Start Game");
        startGameButton.setFont(new Font("Visitor TT1 BRK", Font.PLAIN, 24));
        startGameButton.setForeground(Color.cyan);
        startGameButton.setBackground(Color.blue);       
        startGameButton.setBounds(350,350, 75, 75);
        titleLabel = new JLabel("The Amazing Ping Pong Game!!");
        titleLabel.setForeground(Color.cyan);
        titleLabel.setBackground(Color.blue);
        titleLabel.setOpaque(true);
        titleLabel.setFont(new Font("Visitor TT1 BRK", Font.PLAIN, 24));
        titleLabel.setBounds(0,350, 75, 75);
        contents.add(startGameButton);
        contents.add(titleLabel);
        setSize(700,350);
        setResizable(false);
        setVisible(true);
    /*private class SwingPracticeEvents implements ActionListener
    public static void main(String [] args)
        SwingPractice window = new SwingPractice();
        window.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
   Any other critiquing would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Edited by: 804210 on Oct 21, 2010 1:30 PM

Answer 1

804210 wrote:
Hey there, I am working on a java game version of pong which I have begun to try and do using Java Swing. The problem I am currently having is reposition the components in the main window part of the game which is were the user can start a new game or close the program. I having tried using the absolute positioning by setting the layout manager to nullDon't. Ever. Never. Well, mostly.
Read the tutorial chapter about [url http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/uiswing/layout/index.html]Laying out components. It even features a section on absolute positioning - which you should skip reading, of course! :o)
And read this old Sun topic: http://forums.sun.com/thread.jspa?threadID=5411066
Edited by: jduprez on Oct 21, 2010 10:48 PM