Chapter 1 - Introduction

Who should use this tutorial?

The AFJ Tutorial is for people who wish to create Java applets to be served over the Internet through the World Wide Web. Programming or Internet experience is not required, but to grasp the full content of this tutorial it may be helpful to know something about programming. The Apple Flavored Java Tutorial does not go into the theory of programming but instead arms you with the information and techniques to create Java applets from scratch. This tutorial is targeted at the following people:

• Beginners who want to learn the basics of Java and quickly create applets
• Practiced programmers who know C++ or a similar language and wish to learn Java
• Java programmers who wish to own a reference book and learn advanced techniques

This list covers a lot of ground and may intimidate some of you. Java, in its very inception, was meant to be a simple programming language that was also powerful and flexible. If you are a beginner it will take longer for you to absorb the content when compared to a practiced programmer.

What does thie tutorial cover?

The Apple Flavored Java Tutorial starts with an overview of the current development platforms and basics of Java. You will learn the fundamental data types, operators, statements, and expressions that make up the core of Java programming.

The tutorial will continue on describing the more powerful statements in Java, how to create applets, embedding in HTML pages, and how to process user interaction. Graphics, sound, and networking are covered separately to provide you an in depth view of these important aspects of Java applets.

The last few sections of the Apple Flavored Java Tutorial introduce you to multithreading and give a more in depth look at Object Oriented Programming. By the time you finish the tutorial you should feel comfortable programming applets in Java and exploring Java's class libraries to learn more.

Tutorial conventions and structure

The AFJ Tutorial uses certain conventions to make presenting and digesting of the material easier. Many icons are used to bring attention to the reader about a certain detail.

LIST OF ICONS AND DESCRIPTIONS

Java code will be written in a typewriter font to show what exactly should be entered into your editor. For example:

	import java,awt.*;

	public class MyClass extends java.applet.Applet {
			...
	}

Most output from the browser will be displayed as screen shots from a Netscape window for clarity.