Hour 4. Understanding How Java Programs Work

An important distinction to make in Java programming is where your program is supposed to be running. Some programs are intended to work on your computer; you type in a command or click an icon to start them up. Other programs are intended to run as part of a World Wide Web page. You encountered several examples of this type of program during the previous hour's whirlwind vacation.

Java programs that run locally on your own computer are called applications. Programs that run on web pages are called applets. During this hour, you'll learn why that distinction is important, and the following topics will be covered:

• How applications work

• Organizing an application

• Sending arguments to an application

• How applets work

• The required parts of an applet

• Sending parameters to an applet

• Using HTML tags to put an applet on a page