Exploring Java introduces the basics of Java, the hot new object-oriented programming language for networked applications from Sun Microsystems. Exploring Java enables programmers to quickly get up to speed writing Java applets, programs executed within web browsers.

Even before the first release of Java, companies from Oracle to Netscape and Microsoft licensed Java to integrate with their Internet products. What makes this new language so important? It's truly portable. The same code runs on any machine that provides a Java interpreter, whether Windows 95, Windows NT, the Macintosh, or any flavor of UNIX. And, potentially, Java is designed to be as fast as programs written in C and C++.

The ability to create animated World Wide Web pages has also sparked the rush to Java. But, the story does not end with the Web. Sophisticated large applications, such as spreadsheets or word processors, can also be written with Java. An early example is Sun's self-extensible web browser, HotJava.

With a practical, hands-on approach characteristic of O'Reilly's Nutshell Handbooks®, Exploring Java shows you how to write dynamic web pages. But that's only the beginning. This book also shows you how to write content and protocol handlers, networking programs, and other standalone applications.

Exploring Java is the first book in a new Java documentation series from O'Reilly that will keep pace with the rapid Java developments. In this book, you will learn about:

• History and principles of Java
• How to write simple applets
• How to integrate applets into the World Wide Web
• Java Class Libraries
• Using threads
• Using arrays
• Network programming
• Content and protocol handling
• Using the Abstract Windowing Toolkit (AWT)
• Writing a security manager