Summary

Java Platform Packages Used In This Book

This section provides a quick overview of the Java platform API packages you will be exposed to as you progress through this book. The packages and some of their important functionality are listed in table 5-1.

Table 5-1: Java Platform Packages Used In This Book

Package	Functionality
java.applet	Provides the classes required to write Java applets. It contains the Applet class that serves as the base class for the javax.swing.JApplet class.
java.awt	The Abstract Windowing Toolkit (AWT) provides the classes necessary to create user interfaces. The javax.swing package uses several AWT components as base classes for swing components.
java.rmi	Provides classes required to write Remote Method Invocation (RMI) programs.
java.awt.event	Provides classes and interfaces required for handling events fired by AWT and Swing components. You will use the classes and interfaces in the java.awt.event package to write event-driven programs.
java.awt.image	Provides classes required to create and manipulate images.
java.sql Provides	classes required to write programs that use Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) and the Structured Query Language (SQL) to access relational databases.
java.io	Provides classes required to perform system input and output through data streams, serialization, and the file system. With the classes supplied by the java.io package you can write programs that read and write information to the console, to a file, or across a network. You can even write and read entire objects. The classes contained in this package are too numerous to mention here.
java.lang	Provides classes and interfaces that are fundamental to the design of the Java programming language. You should become intimately familiar with the functionality provided by the java.lang package. Here you will find the Object class as well as all the primitive type wrapper classes like Boolean, Character, Byte, etc. The wrapper classes come in very handy, especially when you want to convert from a String representation of a number to a primitive type. Other important classes include Thread, String, StringBuffer, Math, and Class.
java.net	Provides classes required to write networking applications. The classes supplied by the java.net package make it easy to write networked applications. Important classes contained in this package include URL, URLConnection, Socket, and ServerSocket to name just a few.
java.util	Provides a wide array of generally useful functionality like the various collection classes, date and time facilities, and utility classes like StringTokenizer, Date, Timer, Currency, and Random.
java.util.jar	Provides classes for reading and writing Java JAR files.
javax.swing	Provides a set of lightweight, all-Java components that are used to write graphical user interfaces. The objective of the javax.swing package is to provide a set of components that behave the same across all platforms. We will make extensive use of Swing components in this book