Simple utility applications can be very helpful to Java developers. For example, you might need an application that generates a hexadecimal listing of a binary file.

Read more ...

The Java language's transient keyword isn't as well known as for, class, synchronized, and other familiar keywords; which makes it a perfect candidate for inclusion in a job interview questionnaire.

Read more ...

Java's Collections Framework provides many convenient idioms for accomplishing common tasks (e.g., removing a collection's null elements). In this post, I present a handful of these idioms, which can help you write clearer and shorter code.

Easy List Creation

Q: What's the easiest way to create a list?

A: The easiest way to create a list is to use the java.util.Arrays class's <T> List<T> asList(T... a) generic class method, which returns a fixed-size list backed by the specified array.

Read more ...

The javax.swing.JFileChooser class describes a Swing component for choosing files, usually via its int showOpenDialog(Component parent) and int showSaveDialog(Component parent) methods. In this post, I enumerate various ways to customize a file chooser.

Creating and Showing File Choosers

Q: How do I create and show a file chooser?

A: Before you can customize a file chooser, you need to know how to create one and then show it.

Read more ...

Welcome to Java Q&A. In this new blog, I answer all kinds of technical questions related to Java. Each post presents one or more Java questions (based on a theme) and offers answers.

Read more ...