Applications are initially installed on the desktop but can be run any number of times without additional downloads. Servlets are small, platform-independent Java programs that can be used to extend the functionality of a Web server. Instead, servlets interact with the servlet engine running on the Web server through requests and responses. A number of the customers with whom we have worked to develop their enterprise systems have made the decision to deploy their clients as applets. The reasons frequently given for this selection include Browsers provide a familiar user interface for our clients.
Applets support the creation and deployment of sophisticated, dynamic GUIs.
Resultantly, applets are expected to work with the browser the client has previously installed on their desktop. Unfortunately, the JDK release of the JRE environment in the browser can be incompatible with the release used to implement the applet. This is aggravated by the fact that most of the browsers seldom include the latest JRE versions. We found exactly this problem when implementing the GEE version of the model application. Fortunately, this problem could be addressed through use of the Java Plug-in.