SnapKit

Status: Production-ready

Java Version: 8+

Learning Curve: Easy-Moderate

Last Release: v2025.12 (Dec 2025)

SnapKit is "Swing 2.0"—a UI toolkit developed by ReportMill that aims to run on both desktop and in the browser. Used to power SnapCode (a Java IDE that runs in a browser), SnapKit can deploy to desktop via Swing or JavaFX, and to browsers via CheerpJ JVM. The framework features XML-based UI files with a visual GUI builder (SnapBuilder), a ViewOwner controller pattern, and support for geometric primitives, effects, and even 3D via WebGL/JOGL. While SnapKit presents an interesting approach for dual-platform development, it remains a niche framework with limited adoption compared to mainstream Java UI toolkits.

Code Example

import snap.view.*;
            import snap.viewx.WebPage;
            import snap.gfx.Font;
            
            public class HelloSnapKit extends WebPage {
                protected View createUI() {
                    Label label = new Label("Hello, SnapKit!");
                    label.setFont(Font.Arial14.deriveFont(24));
                    
                    RowView row = new RowView();
                    row.setPadding(50, 50, 50, 50);
                    row.addChild(label);
                    return row;
                }
                
                public static void main(String[] args) {
                    new HelloSnapKit().run(args);
                }
            }