LWUIT Open Source... Today! (plus great new drop)

The LWUIT home page now reflects the open sourcing of LWUIT today and Terrence is also blogging about this. Today we are finally switching to the java.net SVN repository for all development which means changes to LWUIT will be made live within that repository.

What does that mean to you?

We no longer need to tell you that a fix will be available in the next drop, we can commit to the SVN to deliver fixes for issues discovered by the community.

You can now contribute code to the project using the incubator project but make sure to sign the SCA before applying for a role.

Drops probably won't be as frequent as before since they won't be as essential for bug fix deliveries. We would expect more detailed bug reports from the community though ;-)

The license we picked is the GPL+Classpath Exception which allows binary linking with the application (unlike the LGPL) thus allowing you to build and obfuscate your own proprietary applications. We still intend to offer binary drops under the current binary license to give you a choice between two licenses and ease your interaction with the legal department in your respective corporation (note that the binary license only applies to the binary drops!).

The current source code is a snapshot in time, development has been ongoing with many new features available in the current source code that weren't previously available in a drop. To bring all things into line we are also publishing a new drop with updated release notes etc.

Main features of the new drop/source code include the following:

• Live drag and drop support for components in layouts
• Component z-ordering support
• New absolute/scalable layout allowing arbitrary positioning
• SVG Image support using JSR 226 - SVG Images can be loaded and applied to any component
• 3D transitions are now possible for all components including dialogs and arbitrary components
• Performance improvements: Added the ability to repaint a dirty rectangle within a Component
• Added support for glass pane allowing a painter/painter chain to draw on top of the current component very efficiently.
• Fix for issue of layering modal dialogs one on top of the other

Please look to the release notes for further details of what has changed.