A flow layout works kind of like wordwrap and centering.  If possible, all components are placed at the top of the container (window or panel) and centered on the first line.  If the width is insufficient to allow that, components move to the center of the next line, and so on.  Note that the layout is dynamic, that is, as the window size changes, components move to maintain the top-center format:

			/** * Demo of FlowLayout manager * * @author Chuck Iverson * @version 11/24/09 */ import java.awt.*; import javax.swing.*; public class FlowLayoutWindow {     private JFrame window;     private final int WINDOW_WIDTH = 600;     private final int WINDOW_HEIGHT = 100;     public static void main(String[] args) {         FlowLayoutWindow flw = new FlowLayoutWindow();     }     public FlowLayoutWindow() {         window = new JFrame("Flow Layout");         // setup window         window.setSize(WINDOW_WIDTH, WINDOW_HEIGHT);         window.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);                  buildGUI();                                 // add remaining components                  window.setVisible(true);                    // make window visible     }          public void buildGUI() {         JPanel panGUI = new JPanel();               // create container for buttons         panGUI.setLayout(new FlowLayout());         // set layout manager to flow                  JButton btn1 = new JButton("Button 1");     // create 3 buttons         JButton btn2 = new JButton("Button 2");         JButton btn3 = new JButton("Button 3");                  panGUI.add(btn1);                           // add buttons to panel         panGUI.add(btn2);         panGUI.add(btn3);                  window.add(panGUI);                         // add panel to window     } }

				A grid layout subdivides a container (window or panel) into a specified number of rows and columns to define cells of equal size.  The layout is dynamic in that a change in window size causes all the cells to grow or diminish in proportion to the new size.

			/** * Demo of GridLayout * * @author Chuck Iverson * @version 11/24/09 */ import java.awt.*; import javax.swing.*; public class GridPanelWindow {     private JFrame window;     private final int WINDOW_WIDTH = 600;     private final int WINDOW_HEIGHT = 300;          public static void main(String[] args) {         GridPanelWindow gpw = new GridPanelWindow();     }     public GridPanelWindow() {         window = new JFrame("Grid Layout");                     // setup window         window.setSize(WINDOW_WIDTH, WINDOW_HEIGHT);         window.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);         buildGUI();                                             // add remaining components         window.setVisible(true);                                // make window visible     }          public void buildGUI() {         window.setLayout(new GridLayout(2, 3));                 // set grid layout:  2 rows, 3 columns         JButton btn1 = new JButton("Button 1");                 // create 6 buttons         JButton btn2 = new JButton("Button 2");         JButton btn3 = new JButton("Button 3");         JButton btn4 = new JButton("Button 4");         JButton btn5 = new JButton("Button 5");         JButton btn6 = new JButton("Button 6");         JLabel lbl1 = new JLabel("This is cell 1.");            // create 6 labels         JLabel lbl2 = new JLabel("This is cell 2.");         JLabel lbl3 = new JLabel("This is cell 3.");         JLabel lbl4 = new JLabel("This is cell 4.");         JLabel lbl5 = new JLabel("This is cell 5.");         JLabel lbl6 = new JLabel("This is cell 6.");         JPanel pan1 = new JPanel();                             // create 6 panels         JPanel pan2 = new JPanel();         JPanel pan3 = new JPanel();         JPanel pan4 = new JPanel();         JPanel pan5 = new JPanel();         JPanel pan6 = new JPanel();         pan1.setBackground(Color.red);                          // add color to panels         pan2.setBackground(Color.cyan);         pan3.setBackground(Color.blue);         pan4.setBackground(Color.yellow);         pan5.setBackground(Color.green);         pan6.setBackground(Color.magenta);         pan1.add(lbl1);                                   // Add the labels to the panels         pan2.add(lbl2);                                   // panels have default FlowLayout         pan3.add(lbl3);         pan4.add(lbl4);         pan5.add(lbl5);         pan6.add(lbl6);         pan1.add(btn1);                                   // Add the buttons to the panels         pan2.add(btn2);                                                  pan3.add(btn3);                                                  pan4.add(btn4);         pan5.add(btn5);         pan6.add(btn6);                                                           // Add panels to window         window.add(pan1);                                 // Goes into row 1, column 1         window.add(pan2);                                 // Goes into row 1, column 2         window.add(pan3);                                 // Goes into row 1, column 3         window.add(pan4);                                 // Goes into row 2, column 1         window.add(pan5);                                 // Goes into row 2, column 2         window.add(pan6);                                 // Goes into row 2, column 3     } }

				A border layout subdivides a container (window or panel) into north (top) and south (bottom)regions which extend the full width of the container and west (left), center and east (right) regions.

			/** * Demo of BorderLayout manager * * @author Chuck Iverson * @version 11/24/09 */ import java.awt.*; import javax.swing.*; public class BorderLayoutWindow {     private JFrame window;     private final int WINDOW_WIDTH = 800;     private final int WINDOW_HEIGHT = 400;     public static void main(String[] args) {         BorderLayoutWindow blw = new BorderLayoutWindow();     }     public BorderLayoutWindow() {         window = new JFrame("Border Layout");                       // setup window         window.setSize(WINDOW_WIDTH, WINDOW_HEIGHT);         window.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);         buildGUI();                                                 // add remaining components         window.setVisible(true);                                    // make window visible     }          public void buildGUI() {         window.setLayout(new BorderLayout());                       // set layout to Border         JPanel pan1 = new JPanel();                                 // create 5 panels         JPanel pan2 = new JPanel();         JPanel pan3 = new JPanel();         JPanel pan4 = new JPanel();         JPanel pan5 = new JPanel();         pan1.setBackground(Color.red);                              // add color to panels         pan2.setBackground(Color.green);         pan3.setBackground(Color.yellow);         pan4.setBackground(Color.blue);         pan5.setBackground(Color.cyan);         JButton btn1 = new JButton("North Button");                 // create 5 buttons         JButton btn2 = new JButton("South Button");         JButton btn3 = new JButton("East Button");         JButton btn4 = new JButton("West Button");         JButton btn5 = new JButton("Center Button");         pan1.add(btn1);                                             // Add buttons to panels         pan2.add(btn2);         pan3.add(btn3);         pan4.add(btn4);         pan5.add(btn5);         window.add(pan1, BorderLayout.NORTH);                       // Add the panels to window         window.add(pan2, BorderLayout.SOUTH);         window.add(pan3, BorderLayout.EAST);         window.add(pan4, BorderLayout.WEST);         window.add(pan5, BorderLayout.CENTER);     } }

			Read pp. 740-748 of the text.

			Use some combination of panels and the three layout managers described above to write programs to create the following GUIs (which don't need to actually work).