A Java applet is a small application program, specifically intended for the Web and coded in Java, which is downloaded along with the HTML and other content of a web page, and is run by the browser inside of the web page itself. Its use can greatly improve the quality of the presentation, which otherwise tends to be static and uninteresting.

Java programs generally run on a "Java Virtual Machine" (JVM). In case of applets, they run on a JVM that is part of the web browser itself. As there is no uniform standard for JVMs--with each browser supplying its own--it is possible for applets to look different depending upon the browser they are run under. Applets were introduced by Sun Microsystems as part of the Java programming language and were first brought into use by Netscape in January 1996, when they released the first ever Java-compatible browser, Netscape...