import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;

public class GamePanel extends JPanel {
    protected JPanel topLeftPanel, topMidPanel, topRightPanel,
                     botLeftPanel, botMidPanel, botRightPanel,
                     midLeftPanel, midMidPanel, midRightPanel;
    protected JPanel panel[];
    protected JComboBox TLChoice, TMChoice, TRChoice,
                        MLChoice, MMChoice, MRChoice,
                        BLChoice, BMChoice, BRChoice;
    protected JComboBox choice[];
    protected String choiceOptions[] = {"","X","O"};

    public GamePanel() {
        setLayout(new GridLayout(3,3));  //game panels gid layout   
       
        panel[9] = new JPanel();
        choice[9] = new JComboBox(choiceOptions);
        for (int i = 0; i < 9; i++) {
            panel[i].setLayout(new FlowLayout());
            panel[i].add(choice[i]);
            add(panel[i]);
        }
   
 /**       //need a ComboBox for each panel
        TLChoice = new JComboBox(choiceOptions);
        TMChoice = new JComboBox(choiceOptions);
        TRChoice = new JComboBox(choiceOptions);
        MLChoice = new JComboBox(choiceOptions);
        MMChoice = new JComboBox(choiceOptions);
        MRChoice = new JComboBox(choiceOptions);
        BLChoice = new JComboBox(choiceOptions);
        BMChoice = new JComboBox(choiceOptions);
        BRChoice = new JComboBox(choiceOptions);
 */     
        /** TOP ROW panels for gamePanel*/
/**        topLeftPanel = new JPanel();
        topMidPanel = new JPanel();
        topRightPanel = new JPanel();
        //flow layouts
        topLeftPanel.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
        topMidPanel.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
        topRightPanel.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
        //add the choice to each top row panels
        topLeftPanel.add(TLChoice);
        topMidPanel.add(TMChoice);
        topRightPanel.add(TRChoice);
*/       
        /** MID ROW panels for gamePanel*/
/**        midLeftPanel = new JPanel();
        midMidPanel = new JPanel();
        midRightPanel = new JPanel();
        //flow layouts
        midLeftPanel.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
        midMidPanel.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
        midRightPanel.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
        //add the choice to each top row panels
        midLeftPanel.add(MLChoice);
        midMidPanel.add(MMChoice);
        midRightPanel.add(MRChoice);
*/       
        /** BOT ROW panels for gamePanel*/
 /**       botLeftPanel = new JPanel();
        botMidPanel = new JPanel();
        botRightPanel = new JPanel();
        //flow layouts
        botLeftPanel.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
        botMidPanel.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
        botRightPanel.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
        //add the choice to each top row panels
        botLeftPanel.add(BLChoice);
        botMidPanel.add(BMChoice);
        botRightPanel.add(BRChoice);           
       
        //Have to add all the panels to the gamePanel now in order
        add(topLeftPanel);     add(topMidPanel);    add(topRightPanel); //TOP
        add(midLeftPanel);     add(midMidPanel);    add(midRightPanel); //MID
        add(botLeftPanel);     add(botMidPanel);    add(botRightPanel); //BOT
  */
    }
}

// This declares a variable 'panels' that references an array for JPanel. Note: Declaring an array reference variable does not create an array
JPanel[] panels;

// This creates an array and assigns the address to the panels variable
panels = new JPanel[6];

// You can both declare and create the array in one statement, like so:
JPanel[] panels = new JPanel[6];

// This creates an instance of the JPanel object for each element in the panels array (therefore, 6 JPanel object references in the panels array).
for (int i = 0; i < panels.length; i++) {
    panels[i] = new JPanel();
}