Gui - Best way to navigate between windows?

Question

I try to build a gui (Swing) for a simple java application. The application should have a start window like a menu. From there I would like to navigate to several other windows.

My question is what is the best-practice to achieve such a navigation? Should I build several JFrames and switch the visibility of them on/off when navigating OR should I better have one JFrame and add/remove JPanels in this single frame to navigate between the windows?

Thanks.

Answer 1

I recommend

• Do not do a MDI application with sub-frames like those found in the old Windows days. They suck as they make the matter confusing.
• Do design a tabbed interface. The welcome page/menu will be displayed on a first tab that is always created on the start.

All cool kids do that nowadays:

• Visual Studio
• Eclipse
• Firefox