4 posts tagged with "Responsive Design"

The quickest way to build a responsive Java web app layout in webforJ is AppLayout for the shell, AppNav for the side navigation, and ColumnsLayout or FlexLayout for the content. AppLayout gives you a fixed header and footer plus a drawer that turns into a popover on narrow screens. Everything is plain Java and every view is a route.

This guide builds the whole shell in one pass: the drawer and its breakpoint, navigation linked to routes, a content grid that changes column count with the viewport, and what happens on a phone.

The webforJ FlexLayout component provides an easy and Java-like way to create CSS Flexbox layouts. For an introduction, see the first part of this series, FlexWrap your mind around webforJ's FlexLayout, in which I discuss the general benefits of the webforJ FlexLayout component and the methods that modify the flex container. In this article, I'll dive into the flex items inside the container to see how you can further customize the behavior of your layout.

One of the great benefits of creating web apps is gaining access to the powerful styling and layout capabilities of CSS. In particular, CSS lets you create responsive layouts, allowing your apps to smoothly adjust their layout according to parameters like window size and device type. Apps with responsive layouts look and feel better, and they allow users to use your app in their preferred context and size. With webforJ, you have that power in Java!

But, knowing what to do with that power is another story. Perhaps you're used to carefully laying out forms with a rigid structure, and the prospect of creating designs that are adaptable and dynamic seems intimidating and complicated. So where do you start? With webforJ's FlexLayout!

I've spent the better part of a year building webforJ demos and documentation, and honestly, it's taught me that I knew a lot less about CSS than I thought. I thought I knew enough to get by, some selectors, basic properties, maybe a flexbox here and there. Turns out there's a difference between writing CSS that works and writing CSS that actually makes sense.

Working on webforJ's styling system has changed how I approach CSS. It handles common tasks well and gets out of your way for the interesting parts. Plus, I no longer spend half my time wondering why my styles disappeared into the void.