Why can I not edit the location of my JButton?

Code:

public class launcher implements ActionListener {

private static JFrame window;
private static JPanel panel; 

private JButton createPassword;
private JButton seePassword;

public launcher() {
	
	window = new JFrame(); 
	panel = new JPanel();
	
	window.setTitle("Password Vault");
	window.setSize(400, 260);
	window.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
	window.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
	window.setResizable(false);
	window.setVisible(true);
	window.getContentPane().add(panel); // Adds panel to JFrame
	
	createPassword = new JButton("Create Password");
	createPassword.setBounds(20, 100, 150, 100);
	createPassword.addActionListener(this);
	
	seePassword = new JButton("View Password");
	seePassword.setLocation(20, 50);
	seePassword.addActionListener(this);
	
	panel.add(createPassword);
	panel.add(seePassword);
}

public static void main(String[] args) {

	new launcher();
}

Why can I not change the location of my JButtons? I have tried the setBounds and setLocation function but my buttons still stay on the top middle part of the JFrame window. I have also tried declaring my buttons inside the launcher() method and declaring them as a static variable.

You should NOT attempt to set the size/location of your buttons.

Swing was designed to be used with layout managers. The layout manager will set the size/location of the button based on the rules of the layout manager.

The default layout manager for a JPanel is the FlowLayout, which is why you see the button centered.

If you want to position the buttons differently, then you need to change the layout manager.

Read the section from the Swing tutorial on Layout Managers for more information and examples.

It looks like you want the buttons displayed vertically, so maybe a BoxLayout or GridLayout can be used depending on your exact requirement.

Other issues with your code:

1. Class names should start with an upper case character
2. There is no need to use static variables. That is not how the static keyword should be used
3. Components should be added to the frame BEFORE the frame is made visible.
4. You should be invoking pack() on the frame, BEFORE invoking setVisible(...) so the components can be displayed at their preferred size.

While you really shouldn't change the place of your components without a layout manager, there is a way. If you put this line of code into your code, it should work with setBounds:

window.setLayout(null);