An applet is a Java program that runs in a Web browser. An applet can be a fully functional Java application because it has the entire Java API at its disposal. The applet is a special type of program that is embedded in the webpage to generate dynamic content. It runs inside the browser and works on the client-side.
Advantage of Applet
There are many advantages of applet. They are as follows:
- It works at client side so less response time.
- Secured
- It can be executed by browsers running under many plateforms, including Linux, Windows, Mac Os etc.
- Applets have strict security rules that are enforced by the Web browser. The security of an applet is often referred to as sandbox security, comparing the applet to a child playing in a sandbox with various rules that must be followed.
- Applets are designed to be embedded within an HTML page.
Lifecycle of Java Applet
Five methods in the Applet class gives you the framework on which you build any serious applet
- Applet is initialized.
- Applet is started.
- Applet is painted.
- Applet is stopped.
- Applet is destroyed.
A “Hello, World” Applet
import java.applet.*;
import java.awt.*;
public class HelloWorldApplet extends Applet {
public void paint (Graphics g) {
g.drawString ("Hello World", 50, 50);
}
} These import statements bring the classes into the scope of our applet class:
- java.applet.Applet
- java.awt.Graphics
Simple example of Applet by html file
To execute the applet by html file, create an applet and compile it. After that create an html file and place the applet code in html file. Now click the html file.
//First.java import import
import java.applet.Applet;
import java.awt.Graphics;
public class First extends Applet{
public void paint(Graphics g){
g.drawString("welcome",150,150);
}
} Simple example of Applet by appletviewer tool
To execute the applet by appletviewer tool, create an applet that contains applet tag in comment and compile it. After that run it by: appletviewer First.java. Now Html file is not required but it is for testing purpose only.
//First.java
import java.applet.Applet;
import java.awt.Graphics;
public class First extends Applet{
public void paint(Graphics g){
g.drawString("welcome to applet",150,150);
}
}
/*
*/ To execute the applet by appletviewer tool, write in command prompt:
c:\>javac First.java c:\>appletviewer First.java
Displaying Images
An applet can display images of the format GIF, JPEG, BMP, and others. To display an image within the applet, you use the drawImage() method found in the java.awt.Graphics class.
import java.applet.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.net.*;
public class ImageDemo extends Applet {
private Image image;
private AppletContext context;
public void init() {
context = this.getAppletContext();
String imageURL = this.getParameter("image");
if(imageURL == null) {
imageURL = "java.jpg";
}
try {
URL url = new URL(this.getDocumentBase(), imageURL);
image = context.getImage(url);
} catch (MalformedURLException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
// Display in browser status bar
context.showStatus("Could not load image!");
}
}
public void paint(Graphics g) {
context.showStatus("Displaying image");
g.drawImage(image, 0, 0, 200, 84, null);
g.drawString("www.javalicense.com", 35, 100);
}
} Now, let us call this applet as follow:
<html>
<title>The ImageDemo applet</title>
<hr>
<applet code = "ImageDemo.class" width = "300" height = "200">
<param name = "image" value = "java.jpg">
</applet>
<hr>
</html> Playing Audio
An applet can play an audio file represented by the AudioClip interface in the java.applet package. The AudioClip interface has three methods, including:
- public void play() − Plays the audio clip one time, from the beginning.
- public void loop() − Causes the audio clip to replay continually.
- public void stop() − Stops playing the audio clip.
To obtain an AudioClip object, you must invoke the getAudioClip() method of the Applet class. The getAudioClip() method returns immediately, whether or not the URL resolves to an actual audio file. The audio file is not downloaded until an attempt is made to play the audio clip.
Following is an example illustrating all the steps to play an audio:
import java.applet.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.net.*;
public class AudioDemo extends Applet {
private AudioClip clip;
private AppletContext context;
public void init() {
context = this.getAppletContext();
String audioURL = this.getParameter("audio");
if(audioURL == null) {
audioURL = "default.au";
}
try {
URL url = new URL(this.getDocumentBase(), audioURL);
clip = context.getAudioClip(url);
} catch (MalformedURLException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
context.showStatus("Could not load audio file!");
}
}
public void start() {
if(clip != null) {
clip.loop();
}
}
public void stop() {
if(clip != null) {
clip.stop();
}
}
} Now, let us call this applet as follows:
<html>
<title>The ImageDemo applet</title>
<hr>
<applet code = "ImageDemo.class" width = "0" height = "0">
<param name = "audio" value = "test.wav">
</applet>
<hr>
</html>