Java For Dummies, 7th Edition

Chapter 16

Responding to Keystrokes and Mouse Clicks

IN THIS CHAPTER

Creating code to handle mouse clicks

Responding when the user presses a key or selects a drop down box item

Putting classes inside of other classes

In the late 1980s, I bought my first mouse. I paid $100 and, because I didn’t really need a mouse, I checked with my wife before buying it. (At the time, my computer ran a hybrid text/windowed environment. Anything that I could do with a mouse, I could just as easily do with the Alt key.)

Now it’s the 21st century. The last ten mice that I got were free. Ordinary ones just fall into my lap somehow. A few exotic mice were on sale at the local computer superstore. One cost $10 and came with a $10 rebate.

As I write this chapter, I’m using the most recent addition to my collection: an official For Dummies mouse. This yellow-and-white beauty has a little compartment filled with water. Instead of a snowy Atlantic City scene, the water surrounds a tiny Dummies Man charm. It’s so cute. It was a present from the folks at Wiley Publishing.

Go On … Click That Button

In previous chapters, I create windows that don’t do much. A typical window displays some information but ...