A separate arena: applications

Most of the brouhaha over Java has been about applets. Java is actually a general-purpose
programming language that can solve any type of problem, at least in theory. And as
pointed out previously, there might be more effective ways to solve most client/server
problems. When you move out of the applet arena (and simultaneously release the
restrictions, such as the one against writing to disk) you enter the world of general-purpose
applications that run standalone, without a Web browser, just like any ordinary program
does. Here, Java’s strength is not only in its portability, but also its programmability. As
you’ll see throughout this book, Java has many features that allow you to create robust
programs in a shorter period than with previous programming languages.
Be aware that this is a mixed blessing. You pay for the improvements through slower
execution speed (although there is significant work going on in this area). Like any language,
Java has built-in limitations that might make it inappropriate to solve certain types of
programming problems. Java is a rapidly-evolving language, however, and as each new
release comes out it becomes more and more attractive for solving larger sets of problems.