Scala Swing is a thin wrapper around Java's Swing GUI framework that aims to simplify it. It uses Scala features like case classes for events, partial functions for event handling, and integrates with Scala collections. This allows building GUI components like panels, buttons, and list views with less verbose code compared to plain Java Swing. Custom painting and mixing in traits also allows flexibility in building component appearances.

1. Scala Swing Ken Scambler

2. Origins of Swing Java’s main desktop programming environment

3. Single Threaded, MVC framework

4. Developed from Abstract Windowing Toolkit (AWT) in the late 90s

5. Sun has focused on the web rather than desktop

6. Has faded from the limelight

7. However still has many users and devotees

8. Swing’s Advantages Cross-platform (mostly!)

9. Extremely powerful

10. Flexible

11. Extensible

12. Uses hardware acceleration

13. Comparable to native performance (nowadays!)

14. Swing’s Disadvantages Huge, complex API

15. Requires very verbose code

16. Events require anonymous inner class gymnastics!

17. Doesn’t integrate with Collection API

18. Models aren’t typesafe

19. Introducing Scala Swing Thin wrapper framework

20. Far less code

21. Dramatically simpler API

22. Full integration with Scala Collections

23. Introducing Scala Swing Scala getter/setter properties

24. Events use pattern-matching and partial functions

25. Performance is just as good

26. Panels & Layouts Layouts are built into the panel