Note that
Applet extends Panel. (I'd guess you've worked with a Panel before.) Since an Applet is a type of a Panel, you can add things to an Applet just as you can add things to a Panel. You can also add a Panel to an Applet, just as you can add a Panel to a Panel.
If Applets are brand new for you, take a look at
"The Anatomy of an Applet" lesson in Sun's
Java Tutorial.
If your question is more to do with working with GUI components, I'd recommend moseying on over to
the Swing / AWT / SWT / JFace forum and starting a new
thread on the topic.
I'm moving this to the Applets forum...
[ September 26, 2004: Message edited by: Dirk Schreckmann ]