By default SpringLayout currently installs a Spring that constrains the x location of the Component to the value returned from getX and the y location is constrained to the value returned from getY. In other words, by default SpringLayout behaves similar to a null layout where the developer directly sets the x/y location on the Comopnent to determine where the Component should be layed out. This is a problem in that LayoutManagers that respect the ComponentOrientation typically need to flip the x position based on the width of the parent. Additionaly by installing these constraints we are encouraging developers not to lay components out using the pref/min/max size so that as sizes change the Components may overlap.