Before we begin by creating a pop-up menu in Java, it's important that we are all thinking on the same wavelength. Let's start by examining something that everyone, even users, would find familiar. Figure 1 shows a fairly standard Java window, with a menu located at the top of the frame. You'll notice that the 'Edit' menu has been selected, to reveal a drop-down menu with several items. Users can click on options, or even toggle settings such as a CheckBoxMenuItem .
Nothing is new so far.
A standard menu bar located at the top of a frame or window. Now consider the difference with the applet shown in Figure 2. This applet is running within a browser, and not as a framed GUI application. There are no menu bars, yet a menu does exist. Note, too, the vertical, rather than horizontal, appearance of a pop-up menu.