Definition
An applet is a small program that can be run inside another application, usually a web browser. Applets were once widely used to provide interactive functionality on web pages, but are now largely obsolete due to security concerns and the increasing adoption of alternative technologies such as JavaScript, HTML5, and WebAssembly.
Java Applet A Java applet is a program written in Java that runs inside a web browser using the Java Plugin (which is now deprecated and no longer supported in modern browsers).
- Java applets were used for games, animations, and interactive graphical user interfaces before the advent of more secure and performant technologies.
Example
import java.applet.Applet;
import java.awt.Graphics;
public class HelloApplet extends Applet {
public void paint(Graphics g) {
g.drawString("Hello, World!", 20, 20);
}
}
The script can be executed with the tag <applet>
<applet code="HelloApplet.class" width="300" height="100">
</applet>
Why are Java applets obsolete?
- Security concerns: many attacks exploited vulnerabilities in the JVM in the browser.
- Removed support in modern browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari have removed support for NPAPI plugins, which are needed to run applets.
More modern alternatives include JavaScript, WebGL, WebAssembly, and HTML5 Canvas.