Project 2: JavaFX GUIs

Overview

In this project, you will create a program with a Graphical User Interface (GUI) built using JavaFX and Scene Builder.

Materials

Description

Write a Java Application. Your program can be anything you like, subject to the following requirements

  • You must incorporate a GUI built with JavaFX and SceneBuilder.
  • At least two of the GUI components should have event handlers that produce visible changes in the GUI.
  • The GUI should have some persistent state that is modeled by a class of your own creation.
    • The Controller should have an instance of this class as one of its attributes.
    • The class should represent an abstraction of the underlying data representation.
    • The class should have a central data structure as one of its attributes, used in a manner pertinent to the application and suitable to the data structure.
    • The central data structure can be an array, linked list, ArrayList, Stack, or ArrayDeque.
  • The program should do something useful or interesting.
    • It need not be complex, but it should be something that someone would conceivably want to use.
    • It should be sufficiently complex that the use of an array, ArrayList, linked list, stack, or queue is natural in the context of the application.

Feel free to use the Java 21 API as a reference for any piece of Java you might need.

Design Idea

To help you make progress on your project, you will need to submit a design idea via email on or before March 6th. This design idea should be at least two sentences, discussing your plan for the project. You will receive feedback and approval of your design idea within 1 day.

Helpful Hints

This project requires the use of a persistent state, as did Project 1, to record information. The TipCalculator app from Lab 6 did not require a persistent state, while the ButtonClicker app used an int in the controller to remember state. You will need to use a class for your state for full credit on this project.

For this project, try not to think too big. Keep your expectations reasonable; this is the first time you will be creating a JavaFX GUI application by yourself and it will take effort to get all the GUI pieces working correctly. Work early and often!

Your idea for a project will most likely involve using components that were not discussed in Lab 6. Please investigate what is possible in the JavaFX API to see what is available.

One option for a project would be to base your code on one of the Homework classes (e.g. Garden, TootsiePop).

Alternately, some students have found success revisiting their Project 1 classes and modifying them to use a GUI instead of command line text input.

Academic Integrity

As a reminder:

  • You may consult online resources (Java tutorials, StackOverflow questions, …), and you may even use snippets of code you find there, but you must clearly cite them in your project, by adding a comment with the URL of the resource you used along with a short explanation of how you used it.
  • You may discuss your project with other students in the class, but you may not look at another student’s code, or share your code with another student. If you need help debugging your code, see an instructor or a TA.

What to Hand In

Submit a zip file containing your whole project via Teams, and an evaluation document detailing the intent of your application, any unique and interesting features in your application, and any joys or struggles you encountered in creating your application.

Grading

To achieve Level 1 Complete, your project must

  • incorporate a GUI built with JavaFX and SceneBuilder,
  • be free of syntactic errors preventing compilation,
  • include at least two GUI components with event handlers that visibly change the GUI, and
  • the GUI has persistent state modeled by a pertinent class of the student’s creation, properly created by a constructor at the start of the program, representing an abstraction of the underlying data representation.
    • the Controller has an instance of this class as an attribute.
    • the class uses an array, linked list, ArrayList, Stack, or ArrayDeque in a useful and pertinent way.

To achieve Level 2 Complete, your project must

  • work as intented (no bugs or missing elements)
  • be something that someone would conceivably want to use,
  • exhibit some creativity and have some interesting features, and
  • include an evaluation document that:
    • adequately describes the project;
    • discusses how data is incorporated into and retrieved from its central data structure.

In addition to the above specifications, you must schedule a one-on-one meeting with me to discuss your app. In this meeting, I will be asking you to explain your coding decisions and make a modification to your code base. If your explanation or code modification is not completed satisfactorily, this project will remain Level 1. This meeting requirement can be reattempted two more times before the grade of Level 1 is permanent.