Heavy weight vs. Light weight component

[Mike Birken]

What is the difference between a heavy weight Swing component and a light weight Swing component?
- Mike

[Ivor Horton]

A heavyweight component relies on native code for its visual representation so it is drawn by the underlying operating system. Heavyweight components are those defined in the java.awt package
A lightweight component does not rely on native code - it is implemented entirely in Java. This means that a lightweight componet is entirely portable.
One consequence of the difference between heavyweight and lightweight components is that mixing them in the same application can cause trouble because they are drawn in different ways. You should avoid mixing them.

[Valentin Crettaz]

An excellent article about heavyweight and lightweight components:
Swing connection: Mixing heavy and light components
Java Tutorial's $.02

As a rule, programs should not use "heavyweight" AWT components alongside Swing components. Heavyweight components include all the ready-to-use AWT components, such as Menu and ScrollPane, and all components that inherit from the AWT Canvas and Panel classes. When Swing components (and all other "lightweight" components) overlap with heavyweight components, the heavyweight component is always painted on top.

[ March 28, 2002: Message edited by: Valentin Crettaz ]