web start applications and applet's accessibility

[jlewicki]

hi guys, quick question,

From my experience, company computers and school computers which don't allow the installation of programs and/or anything but a browser to access the internet ALLOW applets to run inside of browser window (this is correct?). do java web start applications slip by this way also? I'm making a simple chat program which I will eventually build off of to incorporate a 3d engine, so I'm looking for performance but i favor accessibility, and would like to know if webstart applications are something EVERYONE can use, just like applets, but outside of the browser with more performance.

point out any errors i made.

Thanks

[broumbroum]

J Web Start is a good solution for Java Applications and Applets but it still assumes that you have a web access to use its update and extensions features. That's the point.
Thus, it can be easier to launch such apps from outside the web with Java Standard but you 'll have to face the installation and updates processes manually. Is that a good answer ?

[jlewicki]

hmm, kinda sorta. Thanks for the answer and the supplementary information though.

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[CommanderKeith]

Yep, webstart slips through the no-install net like an applet.  But webstart will not work when the user doesn't have the version of java that you request in the jnlp file.  Then it will try to install the newer version of java and fail because the user doesn't have admin priveleges.  That's one reason why you may want to code your game in java 1.4. 

By the way, applets and web started programs will have the same performance as far as i know.

I hope that helps,
Keith

[jlewicki]

ok, thanks

[noblemaster]

I thought Applets are limited in speed - run in the browser thread? One thing is for sure, Applets are limited in memory by most browsers. I believe the common limit lies by 96MB. I was trying to run my game as an Applet, however it simply does not work due to the limit!

[jlewicki]

the plot thickens. Based on you guy's experience, would the idea to build the application for webstart then try to optimize it down for a java applet seem logical?

[noblemaster]

Basically, Java Webstart behaves pretty much like a regular Java application. If you would like to run your program as Applet, be aware that paths etc. are different ...

[CommanderKeith]

I haven't worked with Applets in a long time but I think they're the best for mass-market appeal.  They are also a little different to WebStart apps since for some reason static variables are shared between separate applets (on the same page or site or browser ).... I don't know if it's because the VM is shared or some parts of the VM are shared and I can't find any info on it either. 

I thought Applets are limited in speed - run in the browser thread? One thing is for sure, Applets are limited in memory by most browsers. I believe the common limit lies by 96MB. I was trying to run my game as an Applet, however it simply does not work due to the limit!

Yeah I couldn't find a way to specify VM options to an Applet to set things like memory size either.  I can't see why speed is limited in applets though since Applets can start their own threads like any java app.

If you find anything out about the applet VM then I'd love to hear it! 

Keith