Platform independent tool for designing quality graphical user interfaces

Discusses some early work on the development of GUI design tools at IIT-Kanpur. The work is focused on the layout of the components that gives the interface a clear and consistent look, conforming to specifiable interface guidelines, in an application and across applications. This interface builder provides an environment for specifying component and layout specifications for the interface of Java applets and applications. The tool enables anyone who knows the semantics of the Java Abstract Windowing Toolkit (java.awt) to build quality interfaces. This is achieved by integrating general design principles with an easy-to-use design specification environment.