Java: Difference between the setPreferredSize() and setSize() methods in components

Question

What is the main difference between setSize() and setPreferredSize(). Sometimes I used setSize(), sometimes setPreferredSize(), sometimes one does

Answer 1

setSize will resize the component to the specified size.

setPreferredSize sets the preferred size. The component may not actually be this size depending on the size of the container it's in, or if the user re-sized the component manually.