One of the biggest internet annoyances disappears, Oracle stops with Java browser plugin

One of the biggest annoyances for internet users will disappear, Oracle will no longer offer its Java browser plugin which very frequently asked to be updated and often made pages slow. The company embraces the plugin-free web, an initiative of browser developers who have announced to no longer support support plugins like Java and Silverlight.

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"With modern browser vendors working to restrict and reduce plugin support in their products, developers of applications that rely on the Java browser plugin need to consider alternative options", Oracle writes in an announcement on its website. Developers are advised to migrate from Java Applets (which rely on a browser plugin) to the plugin-free Java Web Start technology.

The company plans to deprecate the Java browser plugin in JDK 9 and the plugin will be removed from the Oracle JDK and JRE in a future Java SE release.

Java can be used to create Java applets, which are small applications delivered to users in the form of bytecode. When the user  launches the Java applet from a web page it's executed within a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) in a process separate from the web browser itself.

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Java shouldn't be mistaken with Javascript, which is a script language that run in the browser and not in a Virtual Machine. Java is a much larger and more complicated language that can be used to create 'standalone' applications. A Java 'applet' is a fully contained program. JavaScript is text that can be interpreted by the browser which also enacts on it.

Browser developers want to get rid of plugins are they consider them a security risk for users and because they often cause performance issues and crashes.

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