Note that the second form, as far as the certification exam scope is concerned, is used with BorderLayout. The String is one of "North", "South", "East", "West" or "Center", which specifies which area of the component is to added to. However, the JDK documentation strongly advises the use of the Java 1.1 form. Which is asked in the exam I can't say, but it is probably wise to be familiar with both. The 1.1 form, which is the only one used in Roberts & Heller (Boone only uses the above form) is as follows:

public void add(Component comp, Object constraints)

Adds the specified component to the end of this container. Also notifies the layout manager to add the component to this container's layout using the specified constraints object.

For BorderLayout, the second parameter is a String as above, or you can use one of the constants defined in the BorderLayout class, BorderLayout.NORTH, BorderLayout.SOUTH etc.

You set the layout manager that a container should use. That layout manger then implements the layout.

public void setLayout(LayoutManager mgr)

Sets the layout manager for this container.

For example, in the code of an applet:

setLayout(new GridLayout()); 

creates an instance of the GridLayout class, and makes it the layout manger for the applet.

Worth noting are the default layout managers: FlowLayout for applets and panels, BorderLayout for windows, frames and dialogs. Containers always use these defaults after being created, unless you specify otherwise, they do not get the default layout manager from the containers they themselves are placed in, unlike other properties such as colour, font etc.

BorderLayout divides the container into 5 regions, and one component at a time can be placed in each (that component can be another container, which itself can contain multiple components). If you add a component to a region which already contains another component, only the latest component will be displayed. Components in the North and South are placed at the top and bottom respectively, and are allowed to be their preferred heights but are as wide as the container. East and West are on the right and left sides respectively, and are allowed to be their preferred widths. Their heights stretch from the North and South regions (if there is nothing in North or South, they go from the bottom to the top of the container). Center fills the remaining space, left after the other regions, in the middle. The component is stretched to fill this area.

How to add components to the regions of a container using BorderLayout is described above, in the first object of this section. Note that if you don't specify a region, the component is added to Center. Therefore, for example, if you create a frame (default layout is BorderLayout), and add a button to it using the default add(Component) method, the button will fill the entire frame.

FlowLayout always allows components to be their preferred size [This is true even if the component is wider or taller than the container. A centered portion of the component is shown, with as much of the component being made visible as can be]. It places many components as it can on a line, with the first component starting on the left, until there is no more room horizontally, then it starts another line. By default the rows are centred in the container. You can specify how the rows are aligned using this constructor:

new FlowLayout(int alignment)

Constructs a new Flow Layout with the specified alignment and a default 5-unit horizontal and vertical gap. The value of the alignment argument must be one of FlowLayout.LEFT, FlowLayout.RIGHT, or FlowLayout.CENTER

GridLayout divides its area into equally sized rectangles. When components are added to it, they are made the same size as their cell. Two constructors to be aware of are:

Creates a grid layout with the specified number of rows and columns. All components in the layout are given equal size. One, but not both, of rows and cols can be zero, which means that any number of objects can be placed in a row or in a column.

Remember: it is rows, then columns. If the number of components added is more than the number of cells (i.e. rows * columns) then more columns are added as needed, but the number of rows remains the same.

Creates a grid layout with a default of one column per component, in a single row.

GridBagLayout

While it is not mentioned in the objectives, GridBagLayout is examined in SCJP 2.

There is a tutorial which includes using GridBagLayout, with AWT, at ftp://ftp.javasoft.com/docs/tut-OLDui.zip

GridBagLayout is like GridLayout, except that components can be different sizes (i.e. take up more than one cell in the grid) and you have a lot more options, hence it is more complex. To use GridBagLayout, you create an instance, and set it as the layout manager for your container, as with the other layout managers. You don't specify the number of cells when constructing an instance of GridBagLayout, the constructor is just the default GridBagLayout().

The twist is that you specify how the component is to be displayed using an instance of GridBagConstraints. The fields in this class contain all the options. For each component, you use the GridBagLayout setConstraints() method:

The values for each component are read from the GridBagConstraints object, so you can change the values after each component, and reuse the same GridBagConstraints instance for the next one. Then you add the component to the container e.g.

MyGridBag.setConstraints(componentX, MyConstraints); 
add(componentX);

GridBagConstraints Fields:
[The constants (uppercase) listed below for use with certain fields are static fields in the GridBagConstraints class, so you refer to them as GridBagConstraints.EAST for example.]

anchor

This field is used when the component is smaller than its display area. It determines where, within the display area, to place the component.
one of CENTER (default), EAST, WEST, NORTH, NORTHEAST, NORTHWEST, SOUTH, SOUTHEAST or SOUTHWEST)

This field is used when the component's display area is larger than the component's requested size. It determines whether to resize the component, and if so, how.
one of NONE (Default), HORIZONTAL, VERTICAL, or BOTH)

Specifies the number of cells in a column for the component's display area.
Use REMAINDER to specify that the component be the last one in its column. Use RELATIVE to specify that the component be the next-to-last one in its column.)

Specifies the number of cells in a row for the component's display area.
Use REMAINDER to specify that the component be the last one in its row. Use RELATIVE to specify that the component be the next-to-last one in its row.
[Here REMAINDER acts somewhat like a carriage return. You add elements to the row, and when you use REMAINDER that marks the end of the line, and then the next components are added to the next row. Look at the examples in the tutorial or in the JavaDocs. Alternatively, you can use gridx and gridy to specify grid position when adding a component.]

Specifies the position of the component. The constant RELATIVE (which is the default) specifies that this component be placed next (i.e. to the right for gridx, and below for gridy) to the previously added component. The top left cell has gridx=0, gridy=0.

Specifies the external padding of the component, the minimum amount of space between the component and the edges of its display area. This field belongs to the Insets class which uses the following constructor:

Creates and initializes a new Insets object with the specified top, left, bottom, and right insets.

Specifies the internal padding of the component, how much space to add to the minimum width of the component.

Specifies the internal padding, that is, how much space to add to the minimum height of the component.

Specifies how to distribute extra vertical/horizontal space respectively. This is a double, typically between 0 and 1, the default value is 0. If all the weights are zero, and there is extra space, all the components are bunched together in the middle.

©1999, 2000, 2002 Dylan Walsh.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the Invariant Sections being the disclaimer, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".