What is the difference between AWT and Swing in Java?

AWT (Abstract Window Toolkit) is the earliest GUI toolkit for Java, offering a set of classes and methods for creating and managing user interface components. It is based on the window system of the native operating system, using its graphics library to draw the UI components.

Swing is a GUI toolkit introduced after AWT, it was developed based on AWT but includes more components and features. Swing is written entirely in Java, not relying on the native operating system’s graphics library, allowing it to run on different platforms and have better cross-platform capabilities.

The main differences between AWT and Swing are as follows:

1. Implementation: AWT relies on the native operating system’s graphics library for rendering, while Swing is entirely written in Java and uses the Java graphics library for rendering.
2. Swing offers a greater variety of components compared to AWT, including richer buttons, labels, text fields, as well as advanced components like tables and tree structures.
3. Appearance and Style: The appearance and style of AWT is influenced by the local operating system, while Swing’s appearance and style is customizable and has a unified look, making applications appear consistent across different platforms.
4. Performance: Due to Swing being entirely written in Java, and utilizing more advanced drawing algorithms and buffering techniques, Swing generally outperforms AWT.

In general, AWT offers simple and basic GUI components, while Swing provides richer and more advanced GUI components, with better cross-platform performance. When developing Java GUI applications, it is usually recommended to use Swing rather than AWT.