Building Graphical User Interfaces with Spring Boot and JavaFX

In the world of application development, combining strong backend services with user-friendly graphical user interfaces (GUIs) is essential for creating comprehensive applications. JavaFX is a powerful framework for creating rich desktop apps in Java, and when paired with Spring Boot, it allows developers to build robust, data-driven GUI applications. In this post, we will explore how to integrate Spring Boot with JavaFX to build a desktop application with a rich user interface.

What is JavaFX?

JavaFX is a platform for creating desktop applications with rich graphical interfaces. It provides a wide range of features such as:

• FXML: An XML-based language for defining UI components and layouts.
• Scene Graph: A hierarchical tree of nodes that represents all visual elements of a GUI.
• CSS Styling: Allows you to style your applications similar to web technologies.

Setting Up Your Spring Boot + JavaFX Project

To build an application using Spring Boot with JavaFX, follow these steps:

1. Create a Spring Boot Project

Use Spring Initializr to generate a new Spring Boot project and add the following dependencies:

• Spring Web

2. Adding JavaFX Dependencies

Add the JavaFX SDK to your project. You can include the JavaFX libraries in your pom.xml:

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.openjfx</groupId>
    <artifactId>javafx-controls</artifactId>
    <version>17.0.2</version>
</dependency>

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.openjfx</groupId>
    <artifactId>javafx-fxml</artifactId>
    <version>17.0.2</version>
</dependency>

3. Create the JavaFX Application

Create a class that extends Application to set up the JavaFX UI:

import javafx.application.Application;
import javafx.scene.Scene;
import javafx.scene.control.Button;
import javafx.scene.layout.StackPane;
import javafx.stage.Stage;

public class MyJavaFXApp extends Application {
    @Override
    public void start(Stage primaryStage) {
        Button btn = new Button();
        btn.setText("Say 'Hello World'!");
        btn.setOnAction(e -> System.out.println("Hello World!"));

        StackPane root = new StackPane();
        root.getChildren().add(btn);
        Scene scene = new Scene(root, 300, 250);

        primaryStage.setTitle("Hello World!");
        primaryStage.setScene(scene);
        primaryStage.show();
    }
}

4. Launching the JavaFX Application from Spring Boot

In your main application class, you’ll need to launch the JavaFX application:

import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;

@SpringBootApplication
public class MyApplication {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SpringApplication.run(MyApplication.class, args);
        MyJavaFXApp.launch(MyJavaFXApp.class, args);
    }
}

5. Running Your Application

Run your Spring Boot application, and you should see a JavaFX window appear with a button. When you click the button, it will print “Hello World!” to the console.

Conclusion

Combining Spring Boot with JavaFX allows you to leverage the robustness of a Spring backend with a rich, interactive GUI. This integration can serve various applications that require a desktop interface, improving user engagement and experience.

For further insights into working with Spring Boot and JavaFX, as well as advanced techniques for desktop applications, explore the extensive resources provided by ITER Academy to advance your skills.

To learn more about ITER Academy, visit our website.