title: Creating a Checkers Board in Java
body: <p>I'm begining a little project to create a simple checkers game. However it's been a long time since I've used the java GUI tools. The goal of the code at this point is to draw the initial board (red pieces at top, black at bottom). However all I get when I run the code is a blank frame. I'm also a little uncertain if my circle drawing code will do what I want (ie create solid red or black circles inside certain squares) Here is the code. Thanks in advance for any help/suggestions</p>
  
  <p>EDIT: I should probably alternate drawing blue and gray squares or else the thing will probably just be a giant blue blob, however I'll settle for a giant blue blob at this point :p</p>
  
  <pre><code>import javax.swing.*;
  import java.awt.*;
  
  public class CheckersServer 
  {
      public static class Board
      {
          private JFrame frame = new JFrame();
          private JPanel backBoard = new JPanel();
  
      Board()
      {
  
          frame.setSize(905,905);
          backBoard.setSize(900,900);
          frame.setTitle("Checkers");
          frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
          frame.setVisible(true);
          backBoard.setVisible(true);
  
  
          boardSquare bs;
          String type = null;
          //Filling in Red Side
          for (int i = 0; i &lt;=1; i++)
          {
              for(int j = 0; j &lt; 9; j++)
              {
                  if(j % 2 == 0)
                  {
                      type = "Red";
                  }
                  else 
                  {
                      type = "Blank";
                  }
  
                  bs = new boardSquare(100*j,100*i,type);
                  backBoard.add(bs); 
  
              }
  
          }
          //Filling in empty middle
          type = "Blank";
          for (int i = 2; i &lt; 7; i++)
          {
              for(int j = 0; j &lt; 9; j++)
              {
  
                  bs = new boardSquare(100*j,100*i,type);
                  backBoard.add(bs); 
  
              }
  
          }
  
          //Filling in Black side
          for (int i = 7; i &lt; 9; i++)
          {
              for(int j = 0; j &lt; 9; j++)
              {
                  if(j % 2 != 0)
                  {
                      type = "Black";
                  }
                  else 
                  {
                      type = "Blank";
                  }
  
                  bs = new boardSquare(100*j,100*i,type);
                  backBoard.add(bs); 
  
              }
  
          }
  
          backBoard.repaint();
          frame.add(backBoard);
          frame.repaint();
  
  
      }
  
      private class boardSquare extends JComponent
      {
          private int x; //x position of the rectangle measured from top left corner
          private int y; //y position of the rectangle measured from top left corner
  
          private boolean isBlack = false;
          private boolean isRed = false;
  
          public boardSquare(int p, int q, String type)
          {
              x = p;
              y = q;
              if (type.equals("Black"))
              {
                  isBlack = true;
                  isRed = false;
              }
              else if (type.equals("Red"))
              {
                  isRed = true;
                  isBlack = false;
              }
              else if (type.equals("Blank"))
              {
                  isBlack = false;
                  isRed = false;
              }
  
          }
          public void paintComponent(Graphics g)
          {
              Graphics2D g2 = (Graphics2D) g;
              Rectangle box = new Rectangle(x,y,100,100);
              g2.draw(box);
              g2.setPaint(Color.BLUE);
              g2.fill(box);
  
              if(isBlack)
              {
                  g2.fillOval(x, y,100 ,100 );
                  g2.setColor(Color.black);
                  g2.drawOval(x, y, 100, 100);
              }
  
              else if(isRed)
              {
                  g2.fillOval(x, y,100 ,100 );
                  g2.setColor(Color.red);
                  g2.drawOval(x, y, 100, 100);
              }
  
          }
      }
  
  
  }
  
  
  public static void main(String[] args)
  {
      Board game = new Board();
  
  }
  }
  </code></pre>