Applets

Two Types of Applets

It is important to state at the outset that there are two varieties of applets.
The first are those based directly on the Applet class. These applets use the
Abstract Window Toolkit (AWT) to provide the graphic user interface (or
use no GUI at all). This style of applet has been available since Java was
first created.
The second type of applets are those based on the Swing class JApplet.
Swing applets use the Swing classes to provide the GUI. Swing offers a
richer and often easier-to-use user interface than does the AWT. Thus,
Swing-based applets are now the most popular.

Thus, both AWT- and Swing-based applets are valid.

Applet Basics
Applets are not stand-alone programs. Instead, they run within
either a web browser or an applet viewer. The illustrations
shown are created with the standard applet viewer, called
appletviewer, provided by the JDK. But we can use any
applet viewer or browser we like.
Execution of an applet does not begin at main( ).Instead,
execution of an applet is started and controlled with an entirely
different mechanism.

To use Swing components in Java applets, you need to create a

Java applet that extends javax.swing.JApplet, which is a
subclass of java.applet.Applet.

Applet Basics
To use an applet, it is specified in an HTML file. One way to do this is by
using the APPLET tag.
The applet will be executed by a Java-enabled web browser when it
encounters the APPLET tag within the HTML file.
To run an applet from a browser, you need to create an HTML file with the
<applet>tag. Here is an example of such a comment:
/*
<applet code="MyApplet" width=200 height=60>
</applet>
*/

<applet>is the tag name, and code, width, and height are
attributes. The width and height attributes specify the rectangular viewing
area of the applet.

Applet Life-Cycle Methods

Applets are actually run from the applet container, which is a
plug-in of a Web browser.
The Applet class contains the init(), start(), stop(), and
destroy() methods, known as the life-cycle methods.
These methods are called by the applet container to control the
execution of an applet. They are implemented with an empty
body in the Applet class. So, they do nothing by default.
You may override them in a subclass of Applet to perform
desired operations.

An Applet Skeleton
init( )
The init method is invoked after the applet is created.
This method is called only once during the run time of your applet.

start( )
The start( ) method is called after init( ). It is also called to restart an applet
after it has been stopped. Whereas init( ) is called oncethe first time an
applet is loadedstart( ) is called each time an applets HTML document
is displayed onscreen. So, if a user leaves a web page and comes back, the
applet resumes execution at start( ).

An Applet Skeleton
stop( )
The stop( ) method is called when a web browser leaves the HTML
document containing the appletwhen it goes to another page, for
example. When stop( ) is called, the applet is probably running.
You should use stop( ) to suspend threads that dont need to run when the
applet is not visible. You can restart them when start( ) is called if the user
returns to the page.
destroy( )
The destroy( ) method is called when the environment determines that your
applet needs to be removed completely from memory. At this point, you
should free up any resources the applet may be using.
The stop( ) method is always called before destroy( ).

An Applet Skeleton
// An Applet skeleton.
import javax.swing.JApplet;
/* <applet code="AppletSkel" width=300 height=100> </applet> */
public class AppletSkel extends JApplet
{
// Called first.
public void init() {

// initialization

}
/* Called second, after init(). Also called whenever the applet is restarted. */
public void start() {
// start or resume execution
}
// Called when the applet is stopped.
public void stop() {
// suspends execution
}
/* Called when applet is terminated. This is the last method executed. */
public void destroy() {
// perform shutdown activities
}

Key Event
Key events enable the use of the keys to control and perform actions or get
input from the keyboard.
A key event is fired whenever a key is pressed, released, or typed on a
component.
Java provides the KeyListener interface to handle key events.
Every key event has an associated key character or key code that is
returned by the getKeyChar() or getKeyCode() method in KeyEvent.

Only a focused component can receive KeyEvent. To make a component

focusable, set its is Focusable property to true.
setFocusable(true)

The MouseEvent Class

A mouse event is fired whenever a mouse is pressed, released,
clicked, moved, or dragged on a component.
Java provides two listener interfaces, MouseListener and
MouseMotionListener, to handle mouse events,
Two commonly used methods in this class are getX( ) and
getY( ). These return the X and Y coordinates of the mouse
within the component when the event occurred. Their forms
are shown here:
int getX( )
int getY( )
The getClickCount( ) method obtains the number of mouse
clicks for this event. Its signature is shown here:
int getClickCount( )

The simplest possible applet

MyApplet.java

import javax.swing.JApplet;
public class MyApplet extends JApplet { }
MyApplet.html
<applet
code=MyApplet.class
width=200 height=100>
</applet>

Running the applet

Compile
javac MyApplet.java
If no errors, bytecodes stored in MyApplet.class

Create an HTML file

ends in .htm or .htm

To execute an applet
appletviewer

15