I’ve been toying with Java Swing (the UI which comes with Java in case you’re wondering) a bit lately to determine which UI to use for my ePen project. I’ll post a longer article about my findings in the next few days but for now, just a few links I’ve collected:
From LegHumped:
- JTextField with background image (as in the location field in your browser)
- Word-wrap for JLabels
- Close a JFrame with Escape
- Utility methods for tree nodes
Then, there is the JFC Swing FAQ and of course the Java Swing Trail by Sun.
I’ve been looking for a good source on editor components. Swing Hacks looked promising but it seems to only scratch the surface like the rest.
Dark Views 
Cheers for the link, most things seem to be implementable by extending existing Swing controls.