Java Window Management library

Vision

JWM is a cross-platform Java window management and OS integration library.

JWM aims to expose an interface that abstracts over window creation, input handling and OS integration. It’s planned to support all the primary desktop platforms:

Windows
macOS
X11
Wayland

Primary goals:

Native JVM API
High-quality OS integration (indistinguishable from native apps)
Plays well with (but does not require) Skija

Motto: “Electron for JVM, without Chrome and JS”

Comparison to other UI/window libraries

Traditionally, Java UIs struggled with high-quality OS integration. JWM plans to bring it to modern standards by implementing those integrations from scratch in modern low-level OS-native APIs. Prior art:

AWT:

Bullet-proof, works everywhere
Event loop is two-threaded (lags in UI)
Dated font management, color management, dpi management
No vsync

JavaFX:

Fixed threading model
Performance is sometimes great, sometimes terrible
Even more limited fonts/color/graphics API
VSync is weird in multi-monitor case
No real extensibility

Winit:

Tried at JetBrains
Complicated event loop model (tries to unify desktop + web + mobile)
https://github.com/rust-windowing/winit/blob/master/FEATURES.md

GLFW via LWJGL, SDL2:

Game-oriented
Bad window management
No OS integration
Create one window and go full-screen is the main use-case

Electron:

Seems great, will use as inspiration
https://www.electronjs.org/docs

Dependency

Key	Value
groupId	io.github.humbleui
artifactId	jwm
version

Resources

Status

Alpha. Expect API breakages.

App

	Windows	macOS	X11
start	✅	✅	✅
makeWindow	✅	#121	✅
getScreens	✅	✅	✅
getPrimaryScreen	✅	✅	✅
runOnUIThread	✅	✅	✅
terminate	✅	✅	✅
Show notification	❌	❌	❌

Theme

	Windows	macOS	X11
isHighContrast	✅	✅	➖
isDark	✅	✅	➖
isInverted	#161	✅	➖

Window

	Windows	macOS	X11
setEventListener	✅	✅	✅
setTextInputClient	✅	✅	✅
setTextInputEnabled	✅	❌	❌
unmarkText	✅	❌	❌
show	✅	✅	✅
getWindowRect	✅	✅	✅
getContentRect	✅	✅	✅
setWindowPosition	✅	✅	✅
setWindowSize	✅	✅	✅
setContentSize	✅	✅	✅
getScreen	✅	✅	✅
requestFrame	✅	✅	✅
close	✅	#107	✅
minimize	✅	✅	✅
maximize	✅	✅	✅
restore	✅	✅	✅
setTitle	✅	✅	✅
setIcon	✅	✅	#95
Set system cursor	✅	✅	✅
Customize titlebar	#75	#75	#75
focus	✅	✅	❌
Get ZOrder	❌	✅	❌
Progress Bar	❌	✅	❌
Set custom cursor	❌	❌	❌
openFile	❌	❌	❌
openFolder	❌	❌	❌
Transparency	✅	❌	❌
Toggle Fullscreen	❌	✅	✅
setMinimumSize	❌	❌	❌
setMaximumSize	❌	❌	❌
setResizable	❌	❌	❌

Events

	Windows	macOS	X11
EventFrame	✅	✅	✅
EventKey	✅	✅	✅
EventMouseButton	✅	✅	✅
EventMouseMove	✅	✅	✅
EventMouseScroll	#115	✅	✅
EventTextInput	✅	#105	✅
EventTextInputMarked	✅	✅	✅
EventWindowCloseRequest	✅	✅	✅
EventWindowMove	✅	#116	✅
EventWindowResize	✅	✅	✅
EventWindowMinimize	✅	✅	#96
EventWindowMaximize	✅	✅	#96
EventWindowRestore	✅	✅	#96
EventWindowVisible	#140	#140	#140
EventWindowScreenChange	#117	#117	#117
EventWindowFocusIn	✅	✅	✅
EventWindowFocusOut	✅	✅	✅
EventWindowFullScreenEnter	❌	✅	❌
EventWindowFullScreenExit	❌	✅	❌
Drag & Drop	❌	❌	❌
Touch events	❌	#249	❌
Theme Changed	❌	❌	❌

Screen

	Windows	macOS	X11
id	✅	✅	✅
isPrimary	✅	✅	✅
bounds	✅	✅	✅
scale	✅	✅	✅
workArea	✅	✅	#119
colorSpace	#122	#122	#122

Clipboard

	Windows	macOS	X11
set	✅	#51	✅
get	✅	#51	✅
getFormats	✅	#51	✅
clear	✅	#51	✅
registerFormat	✅	#51	✅

Layers

	Windows	macOS	X11
Raster	✅	#81	✅
OpenGL	✅	✅	✅
DirectX 11	❌	➖	➖
DirectX 12	✅	➖	➖
Metal	➖	✅	➖
Vulkan	❌	➖	❌

Packaging

	Windows	macOS	X11
Run on GraalVM	❌	❌	❌
App package	❌	❌	❌

Building from source

Prerequisites:

Shared: Git, CMake(3.11+), Ninja, C++ compiler, JDK 11+, $JAVA_HOME, Python 3
Windows 10: Microsoft Visual C++ (MSVC), x64 Native Tools Command Prompt for VS
Ubuntu 20.04: libxcomposite-dev libxrandr-dev libgl1-mesa-dev libxi-dev libxcursor-dev

Run:

./script/build.py

Run examples:

./script/run.py

Run examples without building (use version from the table above):

./script/run.py --jwm-version <version>

Contributing

PRs & issue reports are welcome!

Please read Conventions first.

If you are looking where to start, there’s a label: Good first issue.

Issues labeled “Design” and “Not sure” require prior discussion—leave a comment with your ideas!

Contributors

Development sponsored by:

HumbleUI / JWM

readme