Applets
Applets are Java programs embedded into web pages, allowing most of the functionality of a Java application but removing the need for separate downloading and installation. They perform a similar role to flash pages except they come with some advantages (and disadvantages) by comparison. Flash has the advantage that it is especially suitable for creating animated images, and a user can do that with almost no knowledge of programming.
Typical examples
In the early days of the web many people thought that most web pages would involve Java applets, but much of the anticipated role has been taken up by Javascript (almost no relation to Java). Typical examples Typical examples of early use of applets were dynamic menus or visual effects such as a rippling image of water on a lake. In an era where most internet connections involved a relatively slow dial up modem connection, the delay in downloading applets was generally not offset by a significant benefit. Users of web pages are not tolerant of delay and web designers found they could create an interface that was “good enough” with technologies like HTML and JavaScript
There are still some tasks for which only a Java Applet will fully solve the problem. One of the benefits of applets is that once they are downloaded you do not have the performance benefit of server side applications where you are relying on a round trip to the server for each interaction, though of course JavaScript is frequently a more “lightweight” alternative for browser based interactivity.
Comments