Discuss Applets

[Maki Jav]

As I studied Angular2 today, it downloads 'application engine' on the client. All then runs on clients except some things like database calls.

I had made an Applet based application in ehich I was having same behaviour with 1x1 size Applet in under 2 kbs. The javascript as it was, dom; And much less effort. For the fact that Applets were used 99.9% correctly on clients by people like us, we are hand bound by the big mafia, who shouts 'verbose', 'security' and things similar just for entrapment by giving us less and less choice.
I had
I suggest that to discuss what you are using with the client, use browsers that support Applets like k-meleon or others. And without caring what others may think, just have your way.

I recently have made (rest) web services available with just Servlets and json/xml converter as i was giving format option in url.

Maki Jav

[Tim Moores]

And without caring what others may think, just have your way.

Ignoring industry consensus does not seem to be a particularly good strategy. JNLP desktop apps may still have a place for in-house apps, but to advocate applets at this point is beyond reckless. Better solutions based on modern web development techniques are available, and should be used instead.

[Maki Jav]

"industry consensus" ? Not always relevant.
JNLP? not liked by me and many...

Better solutions based on modern web development techniques? Are you talking about "GOOGLED" Apis?

I am not advocating, but rather I am talking what I feel.

Have you every developed Applets based web apps?

Are you just moderating it to run every person away who posts anything here?
Old things are not dead, C exists and so does symbian...

[Tim Moores]

"industry consensus" ? Not always relevant.

It is here, when the insecurity of the applet sandbox model has been thoroughly proven, and even the owner of the technology has deprecated it.

Are you talking about "GOOGLED" Apis?

Not sure what that is, so I can't say. I was talking about modern client-side approaches as exemplified by Ember, Angular, jQuery and many others.

I am not advocating, but rather I am talking what I feel.

If the point of your post was not to bang the drum in favor of applets, then what was it? IMO, feelings don't help when the facts of the obsolescence of a technology are as clear as in this case.

Have you every developed Applets based web apps?

I have, more than 15 years ago. In the days before XMLHttpRequest they could accomplish some useful things. Plus, back then it was still occasionally possible to deploy applets to a wide audience without hiccups. Of course, even then the JVM had many security holes still to be plugged.

Are you just moderating it to run every person away who posts anything here?

I have not moderated in any way - I have simply stated my opinion.

Old things are not dead, C exists and so does symbian...

Indeed, just because something is old does not mean it's obsolete. But it does not mean it's still relevant, either. Symbian is as dead-end a technology as applets are.

[Dave Tolls]

Of course one issue with Applets that will result in them dying is that the Java plugin isn't going to be there in the browser before too long.
Whether you like it or not, browser coding plugins like Applets and Flash are a thing of the past.

[Bear Bibeault]

Despite how you feel, applets are dead (and pretty much always were, in my opinion). Browsers generally default to disabling them, and the average user isn't going to enable them. And certainly, you are not going to get anyone to switch to an obscure browser just so you can write your apps in an obsolete technology.

Sorry to have to serve you such bitter coffee.

While your disdain for client-side apps is clear, that's not going to stop their momentum. Right now, it's the way the industry is going, and anyone not along for the ride is going to get left behind. Is it perfect? Of course not. But reality rarely is.

[Dave Tolls]

Could always just move to writing Android apps, I suppose.

[Paul Clapham]

The company I used to work for had this program: they handed their customers cheap (I think about $25) handheld devices with which they could produce orders. They did this by walking through their store and scanning the barcodes of the items they wanted to order, and the device wrote those barcodes into a file in the device's hard drive.

Then they would plug the device into the computer and go to the company's website, where they would log in and go to a page containing an applet (mostly written by me). The applet would go through the computer's drives until it found one which contained the file of barcodes, and it would upload that file into the ordering system. Order entry complete.

Now applets are on the way out, but the company is still maintaining that process because it's so simple for all involved. (I spoke to my former colleague who is still supporting the process last month.) As far as I know none of the client-side apps which are all the rage now can support that process. It's really a pity.

[Maki Jav]

Well, that is what I was talking about Paul. If you are trustworthy and your client/user know what you are doing....

Applets are simpler. Not like Angular 2 ts file. It does not let you use anyother js like ${"some-element even"} .

Using technology of the past does not mean that other must frown on it, when you and your client are in harmony.

I was using Applet for a documantation system, where it was reading and searching withih *.dwg/*.dwf, pdf and other types of files to search for keywords.


Thanks guys,

[Bear Bibeault]

Sure, if you are working with a specialized client who is paying you to write Applets, go for it. But if you are creating a new product and hoping the general public (or companies not already mired in the old technology) will use it or buy it, applets are as dead as the petrified forest.