Matthew McRae

The ability to author a program or applet on one computer system and have it run on many different platforms is a paramount strength of Java and its suitability for the Internet. This strength, however, introduces weaknesses in some areas of the implementation that limit Java's usability. One such weakness that is quickly coming to the forefront is the Java Graphical User Interface or JaGUI (pronounced "jah-gooey" which sounds about the way it looks). The cross-platform ability of Java is detrimental to its usability and consistency. Because applets will be run on various platforms with different user interfaces, screen sizes, and resolutions, Java only allows you to vaguely place GUI components in the window with the Abstract Windowing Toolkit (AWT). AWT basically pulls everything to the lowest common denominator to insure compatibility, and effectively brings the c... (more)