Developing Professional Java Applets

Java is frequently described as a programming language for the Internet. This reference mainly alludes to Java's ability to be executed as an applet, which is a program that run insides a Java-enabled World Wide Web browser, such as Netscape Navigator 2.0 or HotJava. Applets naturally function as small programs that can enhance your Web page. This stems from Java's structure as a distributed language and its corresponding ability to load small pieces of code as needed. In the short run, programmers will use Java to add small snippets of code, such as animations, to enhance a Web page experience.

Java applets, however, are much more than small programs that supplement Web pages. Java is a sophisticated and extendable environment, providing the foundations for building industrial-strength applications. This power stems from Java's many facets—from its object-oriented nature to its simplicity to its ability to function in distributed environments. Consequently, to view Java as a "neat" tool for sprucing up your Web pages is a serious understatement of its capabilities. Java applets will appear in more guises than just the Internet. Its role inside internal networks—the so-called "Intranet"—is already being given serious consideration.

Developing Professional Java Applets aims to help bring Java applets out of the world of lightweight programs—like simple animations—into the world of practical programming. This book attempts to fill a gap that has been seriously lacking in currently existing Java literature: a book full of serious, practical, and professional Java projects and examples. The projects in this book illustrate how to create Java applets that solve real-life problems, and they do so in such a way that you will learn all the general features, as well as subtleties, of Java while you're working through practical applications of serious projects. In doing so, you will not only become a more capable Java programmer, but you might also develop insights on how to use Java to create a great new application.