Applets and Applications

                          Applets and Applications
Java applications fall into two main groups: applets and applications.
Applets, as you have learned, are Java programs that are downloaded over the World Wide Web
and executed by a Web browser on the reader’s machine. Applets depend on a Java-capable
browser in order to run (although they can also be viewed using a tool called the appletviewer,
which you’ll learn about later today).
Java applications are more general programs written in the Java language. Java applications don’t
require a browser to run, and in fact, Java can be used to create most other kinds of applications
that you would normally use a more conventional programming language to create. HotJava
itself is a Java application.
A single Java program can be an applet or an application or both, depending on how you write
that program and the capabilities that program uses. Throughout this first week, you’ll be
writing mostly HotJava applications; then you’ll apply what you’ve learned to write applets in
Week 2. If you’re eager to get started with applets, be patient. Everything that you learn while
you’re creating simple Java applications will apply to creating applets, and it’s easier to start with
the basics before moving onto the hard stuff

.Top 3 reasons Why You would Learn Java ..?

? .. Why Learn Java 

At the moment, probably the most compelling reason to learn Java—and probably the reason
you reading this post  is that HotJava applets are written in Java. Even if that were not the case,
Java as a language has significant advantages over other languages and other programming
environments that make it suitable for just about any programming task. This section describes
some of those advantages

Java Is Platform-Independent

Platform independence is one of the most significant advantages that Java has over other
programming languages, particularly for systems that need to work on many different platforms.
Java is platform-independent at both the source and the binary level.
Platform-independence is a program’s capability of moving easily from one computer
system to another.

  Java Is Object-Oriented

To some, object-oriented programming (OOP) technique is merely a way of organizing
programs, and it can be accomplished using any language. Working with a real object-oriented
language and programming environment, however, enables you to take full advantage of objectoriented
methodology and its capabilities of creating flexible, modular programs and reusing
code.
Many of Java’s object-oriented concepts are inherited from C++, the language on which it is
based, but it borrows many concepts from other object-oriented languages as well. Like most
object-oriented programming languages, Java includes a set of class libraries that provide basic
data types, system input and output capabilities, and other utility functions. These basic classes
are part of the Java development kit, which also has classes to support networking, common
Internet protocols, and user interface toolkit functions. Because these class libraries are written
in Java, they are portable across platforms as all Java applications are.
 ..

 Java Is Easy to Learn

In addition to its portability and object-orientation, one of Java’s initial design goals was to be
small and simple, and therefore easier to write, easier to compile, easier to debug, and, best of
all, easy to learn. Keeping the language small also makes it more robust because there are fewer
chances for programmers to make difficult-to-find mistakes. Despite its size and simple design,
however, Java still has a great deal of power and flexibility.

Java is modeled after C and C++, and much of the syntax and object-oriented structure is
borrowed from the latter. If you are familiar with C++, learning Java will be particularly easy for
you, because you have most of the foundation already.

Although Java looks similar to C and C++, most of the more complex parts of those languages
have been excluded from Java, making the language simpler without sacrificing much of its

power. There are no pointers in Java, nor is there pointer arithmetic. Strings and arrays are real
objects in Java. Memory management is automatic. To an experienced programmer, these

omissions may be difficult to get used to, but to beginners or programmers who have worked
in other languages, they make the Java language far easier to learn.
 ... Hope You Find This Usefull.

Stuff programmers want to know about Linux

 Stuff programmers want to know about Linux

These features make Linux a productive software-
development environment:
✓ GNU C compiler (gcc): Compiles ANSIstandard
C programs.
✓ GNU C++ compiler (g++): Supports ANSIstandard
C++ features.
✓ GNU compiler for Java (gcj): Compiles
programs written in the Java programming
language.
✓ GNU make utility: Enables you to compile
and link large programs.
✓ GNU debugger (gdb): Enables you to step
through your program to find problems and
to determine where and how a program
failed. (The failed program’s memory image
is saved in the core file; gdb can examine
this file.)
✓ GNU profiling utility (gprof): Enables you
to determine the degree to which a piece
of software uses your computer’s processor
time.
✓ Subversion, Concurrent Versions System
(CVS), and Revision Control System (RCS):
Maintains version information and controls
access to the source files so that two programmers
don’t inadvertently modify the
same source file at the same time.
✓ GNU emacs editor: Prepares source files
and even launches a compile-link process
to build the program.
✓ Perl: Enables you to write scripts to accomplish
a specific task, tying together many
smaller programs with Linux commands.
✓ Tool Command Language and its graphical
toolkit (Tcl/Tk): Enables you to build
graphical applications rapidly.
✓ Python: Enables you to write code in an
interpreted programming language comparable
to Perl and Tcl. (For example, the
Fedora Core installation program, called
anaconda, is written in Python.)
✓ Dynamically linked, shared libraries:
Allows your actual program files to be
much smaller because all the library
code that several programs may need is
shared — with only one copy loaded in the
system’s memory.