As you’ve discovered, the Model–View–Controller pattern is no panacea, but it offers some advantages. Rooted in MVC, the Swing separable model architecture is discussed in A Swing Architecture Overview. Based on this outline, the following example shows an MVC implementation of a much simpler game that illustrates similar principles. Note that the Model manages a single Piece, chosen at random. In response to a user’s selection, the View invokes the check() method, while listening for a response from the Model via update(). The View then updates itself using information obtained from the Model. Similarly, the Controller may reset() the Model. In particular, there is no drawing in the Model and no game logic in the View. This somewhat more complex game was designed to illustrate the same concepts.
Addendum: I’ve modified the original example to show how MVC allows one to enhance the View without changing the nature of the Model.
Addendum: As @akf observes, MVC hinges on the observer pattern. Your Model needs a way to notify the View of changes. Several approaches are widely used:
-
In the example below,
ModelextendsObservablefor simplicity. -
A more common approach uses an
EventListenerList, as shown in theConverterapplication and suggested by the large number ofEventListenersubinterfaces and implementing classes. -
A third option is to use a
PropertyChangeListener, as shown here and here.
Addendum: Some common questions about Swing controllers are addressed here and here.
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Component;
import java.awt.EventQueue;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.Graphics2D;
import java.awt.RenderingHints;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.util.Observable;
import java.util.Observer;
import java.util.Random;
import javax.swing.Icon;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
/**
* @see http://stackoverflow.com/q/3066590/230513
* @see http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5274962
*/
public class MVCGame {
public static void main(String[] args) {
EventQueue.invokeLater(new MVCGame()::display);
}
public void display() {
JFrame f = new JFrame();
f.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
f.add(new MainPanel());
f.pack();
f.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
f.setVisible(true);
}
}
final class MainPanel extends JPanel {
public MainPanel() {
super(new BorderLayout());
Model model = new Model();
View view = new View(model);
Control control = new Control(model, view);
JLabel label = new JLabel("Guess what color!", JLabel.CENTER);
this.add(label, BorderLayout.NORTH);
this.add(view, BorderLayout.CENTER);
this.add(control.createPanel(), BorderLayout.SOUTH);
}
}
/**
* Control panel
*/
final class Control {
private final Model model;
private final View view;
private final JButton reset = new JButton("Reset");
public Control(Model model, View view) {
this.model = model;
this.view = view;
}
public JPanel createPanel() {
JPanel panel = new JPanel();
panel.add(reset);
reset.addActionListener(new ButtonHandler());
return panel;
}
private class ButtonHandler implements ActionListener {
@Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
String cmd = e.getActionCommand();
if ("Reset".equals(cmd)) {
model.reset();
}
}
}
}
/**
* View
*/
final class View extends JPanel {
private static final String PROMPT = "Click a button.";
private final Model model;
private final ColorIcon icon = new ColorIcon(80, Color.gray);
private final JLabel label = new JLabel(PROMPT, icon, JLabel.CENTER);
public View(Model model) {
super(new BorderLayout());
this.model = model;
label.setVerticalTextPosition(JLabel.BOTTOM);
label.setHorizontalTextPosition(JLabel.CENTER);
this.add(label, BorderLayout.CENTER);
this.add(genButtonPanel(), BorderLayout.SOUTH);
model.addObserver(new ModelObserver());
}
private JPanel genButtonPanel() {
JPanel panel = new JPanel();
for (Piece p : Piece.values()) {
PieceButton pb = new PieceButton(p);
pb.addActionListener(new ButtonHandler());
panel.add(pb);
}
return panel;
}
private class ModelObserver implements Observer {
@Override
public void update(Observable o, Object arg) {
if (arg == null) {
label.setText(PROMPT);
icon.color = Color.gray;
} else {
if ((Boolean) arg) {
label.setText("Win!");
} else {
label.setText("Keep trying.");
}
}
}
}
private class ButtonHandler implements ActionListener {
@Override
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
PieceButton pb = (PieceButton) e.getSource();
icon.color = pb.piece.color;
label.repaint();
model.check(pb.piece);
}
}
private final static class PieceButton extends JButton {
private Piece piece;
public PieceButton(Piece piece) {
this.piece = piece;
this.setIcon(new ColorIcon(16, piece.color));
}
}
private static class ColorIcon implements Icon {
private final int size;
private Color color;
public ColorIcon(int size, Color color) {
this.size = size;
this.color = color;
}
@Override
public void paintIcon(Component c, Graphics g, int x, int y) {
Graphics2D g2d = (Graphics2D) g;
g2d.setRenderingHint(
RenderingHints.KEY_ANTIALIASING,
RenderingHints.VALUE_ANTIALIAS_ON);
g2d.setColor(color);
g2d.fillOval(x, y, size, size);
}
@Override
public int getIconWidth() {
return size;
}
@Override
public int getIconHeight() {
return size;
}
}
}
/**
* Model
*/
class Model extends Observable {
private static final Random rnd = new Random();
private static final Piece[] pieces = Piece.values();
private Piece hidden = init();
private Piece init() {
return pieces[rnd.nextInt(pieces.length)];
}
public void reset() {
hidden = init();
setChanged();
notifyObservers();
}
public void check(Piece guess) {
setChanged();
notifyObservers(guess.equals(hidden));
}
}
enum Piece {
Red(Color.red), Green(Color.green), Blue(Color.blue);
public Color color;
private Piece(Color color) {
this.color = color;
}
}