Erik Hyrkas

Data-driven - or data-aware - components are objects that listen for changes in the data and notify other data-driven components that have requested to listen. This design is a powerful means of maintaining an application throughout not only the first development cycle, but also subsequent cycles as your product becomes more robust and refined. A component can be either a "behind-the-scenes working object" that loads and manipulates data directly or a "user interface tool" that you can click on or type in. Classes that need to send or receive data change notifications should be made into data-driven components. Some basic overhead is involved in accomplishing this, including superclassing specific core Swing data models that are needed for your application. The alternatives often lack the flexibility to easily maintain your application and the robustness to create a ... (more)