Advanced Line Graph by Sirius

Advanced Line Graph, version 3.2
by Sirius Computer Consultants Limited

 

Applet or Servlet

There are several factors to consider when choosing whether to implement either the applet or servlet version of the Line Graph. The table below highlights some of the most important points to be taken into account.

Implementation Type	Advantages	Disadvantages
Servlet	The most dependable solution. Graph can be inserted in dynamic HTML with the IMG tag. Because a GIF is generated at the server, it is compatible with all web browsers. Offers better performance for clients with slower CPUs. Usually less load time on the browser than applets.	Requires Servlet Engine on the server.
Applet	Easy to install and modify. Processing occurs at the client which offloads the processing of images from the server. Interactive Graph functionality (eg. display column values on mouse over, execute url on mouse click.) Does not require any custom modifications to the server. The small size of the JAR files provide quick applet load times (only 12kb).	Some browsers do not print applets. The browsers Java VM must be enabled. ( These days this is usually the case but some people do turn java off).

As you can see from the table above the big advantage of the Applet is the interactive features it offers and the big advantage of the Servlet is the ability to print the graph image consistently across all browser versions. If both these factors are important to your implementation then a combination of the two may be the answer. For an outline of this solution please see the section "Graph Printing" or click here.