When a Web browser (or an appletviewer) runs a Java applet, the applet's execution starts with the init method. Think of the Java init method as SIMILAR to the main function in C/C++, at which the program's execution starts. HOWEVER, UNLIKE the C/C++ main function, when the Java init method ends, the applet does not end. Most applets use init to initialize key variables (hence, the name init). If you do not supply an init method within your applet, Java will run its own default init method which is defined in the Applet class LIBRARY. The following statements illustrate the format of an init method:

The public keyword tells the Java compiler that another object (in this CASE, the browser) can call the init method from outside of the Applet class. The void keyword tells the Java compiler that the init method does not return a value to the browser. As you can see from the empty parentheses following the method name, init does not use any parameters.

When a Web browser (or an appletviewer) runs a Java applet, the applet's execution starts with the init method. Think of the Java init method as similar to the main function in C/C++, at which the program's execution starts. However, unlike the C/C++ main function, when the Java init method ends, the applet does not end. Most applets use init to initialize key variables (hence, the name init). If you do not supply an init method within your applet, Java will run its own default init method which is defined in the Applet class library. The following statements illustrate the format of an init method:

The public keyword tells the Java compiler that another object (in this case, the browser) can call the init method from outside of the Applet class. The void keyword tells the Java compiler that the init method does not return a value to the browser. As you can see from the empty parentheses following the method name, init does not use any parameters.