Swing is an integral part of the Java API. It is also the most popular GUI framework for Java. I still wonder, should every Java programmer still know, or at least be pretty familiar with, Swing (possibly excluding web developers)? There are alternatives (e.g. SWT), but they are not very widely used (compared to Swing).

What do you think about requiring Swing knowledge from Java programmers? If such knowledge is important, to what degree? Are the basics enough or not?

The reason I wonder is because I really don't like Swing but wonder if I still should brush up my skills in it. I'm able to create simple GUIs in it, but I would definitely not say that I know Swing well.