CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javaarraysmodel-view-controlleruser-interface
Smooth Operator
Smooth Operator

Reputation: 197

MVC-design and displaying arrays using Swing/Graphics in Java

I'm working on a small Chess game and think I'm almost done with the basic model and ready to start writing the GUI.

What I've been wondering for a long time is that if the Chess board is represented by a Square array of [8][8], and I create a method to draw a square and somehow establish a relation between that method and the Square model, will I then magically have a visual Chess board?

I mean, say that a square is 10x10 pix, does that mean that the first element (represented by a square) will begin at (0, 0), element two at (10, 0), element/square nine at (0, 10) etc? When I checked out Graphics2D I noticed that the method to draw a rectangle requires x and y coordinates, what do I do if I want the position to depend on the array element?

Or I am going to have to write down the coordinates of each square on the board?

Another thing that has been bothering me is whether it's [row][column] or [column][row]? I've been using [column][row] in my code since it seems right if you think of it as (x, y). When you move up and down you change the row, = y, etc.

I've been trying to google around to find out how to apply the MVC-design, what to think about, do's an dont's, etc. The only thing I know this far is that model = data logic, view = gui and control = interaction, the conclusion is that either I'm bad at googling or there isn't any good information targeted at beginners regarding MVC.

Mainly I don't really understand the relation between M, V and C.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 1013

Answers (2)

Stewart Murrie
Stewart Murrie

Reputation: 1319

So, let's get the easy question out of the way: as far as 2D arrays goes, it's actually up to you to decide whether it's [row][column] or [column][row]. Java doesn't care. As long as you treat it consistently throughout your app you can think of it whichever way makes most sense to you. If it helps (and it might not) remember that a 2D array is just an array of arrays.

As for MVC, this is how I think of it: M is the model of the data (the array, for example), V is the visual representation of that data (displayed to the user, as a chessboard perhaps) and C is the controller, which connects the two and transmits changes in one to the other, translating or otherwise interpreting user actions as necessary. If the user drags a chess piece from one square to another, the Controller interprets this gesture, implements the logic that decides if the maneuver is legal and what side-effects it might have (like capturing a piece), and updates both the model and the view as required. The confusion lies in that most UI toolkits, Java's included, often blur the boundaries between these pieces, so that bits of the Controller end up in the View, or the Model, or both. It's not necessarily a problem, but it's something to be aware of. The main thing is to try, as far as possible, to keep a well-defined boundary between the data, the view, and the logic that interfaces the two.

To answer your question about drawing and co-ordinates, it really depends how you implement your chessboard UI. You could implement it entirely using Java Swing, for example, and by making clever use of JLabels, JPanels, and maybe a GridLayout, or perhaps even a JTable, you could almost (almost!) have an automagially updating chessboard. On the other hand, you could implement your own UI classes from scratch, making use of Java2D and the drawing primitives it provides, and then you'd have to do more management of co-ordinates and such.

Upvotes: 1

Ravi Parmar
Ravi Parmar

Reputation: 1452

Ri8 dear... Actually .. we cant seen clearly advantages of MVC architecture in small application means window based small application... but when you r going with large scale enterprise application .. you realize that ..

When large enterprise level distributed system developing there are lots of developers, designers and other persons are working with it. Now , suppose developer make designing in their coding part .. so it is very hard to understand by any designer.. so this part is seperated so disigner can easily modified and udnerstand this very well and for that there is no need of help of programmer and its a VIEW component....

Same as if there is some business logic is combined with view components then it is hard to understand by programmer and it take too much time to separate that logic from VIEW component, so any programmer can easily & speedly understand that logic .. so Logic means Model and design means any GUI part means VIEW component is separated...

Now Controller .. component .. so, CONTROLLER component provide bridge between those two model and view component.. menan it decided that which view may be given to end user.. and it controll View with the help of model component.............

GOt .. IT........!!!!...

IF any Suggestion... Most Well Come...................

Upvotes: 1

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