Java
Java is the cross platform language of the future, so it has been said by many. Just when you've gotten a handle on HTML there's something new. Buddycom aims to help non-programmers to use effectively and with as little fuss as possible those resources which are useful for web page creation, including Java. Java has become much more common and is on the verge of being ready for prime time. Some say it's ready now.
Applet
Applet is the diminuitive form of the word application. A java applet is a small application written in java programming language. The use and scope of the java applet is specific for a given task. There are caveats to the use of java applets. When a viewer accesses a page containing a java applet, the browser has to load java to be able to use the material in the page. This can sigificantly increase the loading time for the page. Many programming enthusiasts eager to display their acumen and not being particularly concerned with whether or not potential viewers would actually wait the extra time to see their page or just cancel the loading, have used the applets in abundance. Faster modem transmission rates will, in time, obviate this drawback.
Once you've created a cool applet, you paste the applet parameters into your HTML page and place the applet.class file into the same directory or folder as the page and upload them together to your host server. That's it; you're done. If you like, you can look at the parameters for the applet and manually change some of the variables. That way, with a minimum of fuss you can learn how to put Java applets into your pages.
Good sources for Java:

wdvl.com
The troopers at WDVL helped to write the book, as it were so, the information there can be quite technical.

JAVA
Ditto that for JAVA, the site of the folks who themselves created the java language in the first place. They do have lots of free java applets though.

CoffeeCup

Web Monkey

Back to Graphics Java Applets index