JavaFX For Dummies

Chapter 5

Using Layout Panes to Arrange Your Scenes

In This Chapter

Using four popular layout pane classes: HBox, VBox, FlowPane, and BorderPane

Adjusting the size of layout panes and the nodes they contain

Fiddling with various options for spacing out the nodes in a layout pane

Controlling the layout of components in a scene is often one of the most difficult aspects of working with JavaFX. In fact, at times it can be downright exasperating. Often the components almost seem to have minds of their own. They get stubborn and refuse to budge. They line up on top of one another when you want them to be side by side. You make a slight change to a label or text field, and the whole scene seems to rearrange itself. At times, you want to put your fist through the monitor.

I recommend against putting your fist through your monitor. You’ll make a mess, cut your hand, and have to spend money on a new monitor — and when you get your computer working again, the components still won’t line up the way you want them to be.

The problem isn’t with the components; it’s with the layout panes, which ...