Chapter 20. Applets

An applet is small a Java program that runs inside another application, usually a Web browser or an applet viewer. The JDK includes an applet viewer that makes it easy for you to test your applets. However, most of the time your applets will run inside a Web browser.

This chapter starts with a brief history of applets and by introducing the java.applet.Applet class. However, it is easier to write a subclass of Applet, javax.swing.JApplet, just as it is easier to write Swing applications than using AWT components. Besides, JApplet is much more powerful than Applet so you should always subclass JApplet for your applet classes.