You can use FlowLayout, GridLayout or BorderLayout. In my experience creating a GUI in java, I mostly use combinations of BorderLayouts (most often) and GridLayouts.
Layout Basics
If you want it to look like

the code:
public void initComponents() { jButton1 = new javax.swing.JButton(); jButton2 = new javax.swing.JButton(); jButton3 = new javax.swing.JButton(); jButton4 = new javax.swing.JButton(); setLayout(new java.awt.GridLayout(0, 1)); jButton1.setText("jButton1"); add(jButton1); jButton2.setText("jButton2"); add(jButton2); jButton3.setText("jButton3"); add(jButton3); jButton4.setText("jButton4"); add(jButton4); }
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