Looking for an alternative to a null layout on Swing containers, I found SpringLayout. It allows fixed-size locations as well as hybrids (locations that are fixed, but relative to other components within the container), and it was introduced in JDK 1.4. This article from O'Reilly Network describes how to use it. It's definitely more difficult to use than, say, BoxLayout, but it's easier than the black-magic required for GridBagLayouts. It is designed to be used within GUI Builders, but it is certainly useful for "hand-coding" as well, in particular cases in UIs when complete layout control is required.