Java Tip 137: Manage distributed JTables

In this information-driven age, displaying tables with thousands or tens of thousands of rows is standard practice. The data that populates these tables is generally retrieved from remote databases, which presents a challenging dilemma: Should your program download all table data at once, or should it only download the first chunk of requested data? Downloading all data initially can result in a significant time delay before users can use it, which is especially annoying if they are only interested in the first few results. Downloading a chunk of data is common in Web search results, for example on Google, where results paginate into groups of ten. However, in certain circumstances, you might need to show this data in a table but still minimize the initial hit for users. You might, for instance, require a spreadsheet-type user interface with column sorting, cell selection, and data editing. Thanks to a neat design feature of JTable, we can maintain JTable‘s rich user interface while optimizing the required data download.

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