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JavaBeans Tutorial

by Andy Quinn

JavaBeans brings component technology to the Java platform. You can use JavaBeans to write Java classes, called Beans, that you can visually manipulate within application builder tools. This document is a hands-on guide to learning JavaBeans and the Beans Development Kit (BDK). The JavaBeans API Specification provides a complete JavaBeans description.

The software you'll need to understand and explore Beans is available free on the web. In addition to the Beans Development Kit (BDK), you will need the Java Development Kit (JDK).

Introducing JavaBeans defines a Bean and Bean concepts, describes the BDK contents and the demonstration Beans, and discusses future Bean directions.

BeanBox Basics describes the BeanBox: The BDK Bean reference container. You'll learn how to start the BeanBox, view events, generate property reports, serialize components, create a minimal Bean, save a Bean, and add a Bean to the ToolBox.

Writing a Simple Bean describes how to incorporate properties, events, and persistence within your Bean, and how to generate an applet from the BeanBox.

Writing Advanced Beans describes how to incorporate bound, constrained, and indexed properties into your Beans, how to use BeanInfo to advertise your Beans' capabilities to application builder tools, and how to use your own Bean customizers.

Additional Documentation

The BDK's beans/docs directory contains documentation for

• The Beans API
• The BeanBox API
• The demo Beans
• The java.util API
• Java Archive (JAR) files and manifests
• Makefiles for gnumake (Unix) and nmake (Windows)

A good starting point is the file beans/README.html.

The JavaBeans Documentation page contains current JavaBeans API definitions, upcoming JavaBeans feature descriptions, and related Java documentation such as the Java Core Reflection API, Object Serialization, Remote Method Invocation (RMI), and a third-party JavaBeans book list.

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