Layout manager objectifies the component layout strategy. It disentangles component layout code from the drawing code of the container of components. By isolating the implementation of a layout strategy in a separate class, programmer can reuse it by simply assigning an instance of this layout class to the container that requires it. With a layout manager, the layout strategy would have to be embedded within the drawing code of the container itself.

Figure 1: Puzzle, Implemented using the Positionable Grid Layout Manager

This article, published in Volume 3 Issue 12 (December 1998) of the Java Developer's Journal, shows how to write a custom LayoutManager using a fully implemented a grid layout manager with independently positionable components.

Source code associated with this article has been obsoleted and is no longer supported.