Java Reference
In-Depth Information
FIGURE 2.1
The Java compile and execution process.
To really complicate matters further, Java VMs are often executed as part of a
browser application (such as Firefox or Microsoft's Internet Explorer). Java appli-
cations that are embedded in an Internet document (called Java
applets
) execute as
part of the browser interface. The browser actually controls some of the details of
how the application looks (such as the default font to use).
Java applets, in particular, are most subject to portability problems due to the dif-
ferences in browsers and the various versions of the Java VMs used by the browsers.
The implication is that a software provider should test a product on several different
combinations of operating systems/browsers/Java VMs, to make sure the application
