Chapter 22. JavaBeans

JavaBeans is a component architecture for Java. It is a set of rules for writing highly reusable software elements that can be linked together in a plug-and-play fashion to build applications. Writing components to the JavaBeans specification means you won't have to write as much custom code to glue them together. It also allows you to leverage JavaBean-aware development tools that can recognize the features of these components automatically. With some integrated development environments (IDEs), it is even possible to build parts of applications just by connecting prefabricated Java beans.

In this chapter, we'll use the NetBeans IDE to create simple applications by connecting Java beans visually. We will also create our own reusable beans to add to the palette of components in the IDE. Although this visual type of application design has never quite reached the level it was expected to (we'll talk about some of the reasons why later), it is still very useful in GUI development. Moreover, the fundamental JavaBeans patterns are firmly entrenched in all aspects of the core Java APIs, so understanding them is important. We will cover all of these aspects in this chapter, including hand-coding with Java beans and some related APIs.