Another entry for my Portfolio page: a Temperature Converter programmed in Java.
What is the Temperature Converter?
A Java application that converts a temperature to Fahrenheit, Celsius, or Kelvin.
Development
This is an older project I developed because I wanted more practice with programming GUI applications. It was my third such project–the first two being assignments for school–and also my first experience with using a GUI builder to design an interface.
I used the NetBeans IDE and the Swing toolkit. I chose NetBeans because one of my instructors preferred it for coursework, but more importantly, I found it to be a solid tool and enjoyed using it. Although the IDE comes with a decent GUI builder, I didn’t use it for the initial version of the application. Instead, I programmed the interface components myself.
What I remember most about this project is that working on it helped me realize how useful enumerated types are, especially in conjunction with switches.
Challenges
The main obstacle I encountered during development was in creating a GUI that looked and behaved how I wanted. Programming the components from scratch, rather than using a tool to construct the interface, resulted in more trial-and-error than I preferred.
Switching to a GUI builder helped me achieve what I wanted more efficiently.
Mike Schulenberg 