David and Lang's example

From Better Practices

[edit] Replacing an outdated Java applet with a Flash applet

Before

The subject here is page 2.4.3 in our calculus book. It contains the only Java applet in the entire text -- one that looked pretty good to us a decade ago, but

• it makes the page slow to load, and
• it's loaded down with instructions, both before and after the applet position in the text.

While we have the Java code, neither of us is a Java programmer, and we don't have the time it would take to revise this applet (or any of the others written for us years ago that no longer fit with our concept of the book).

(Added 8/29/07) The "before" state is no longer available, because we have updated the text with improvements made over the summer.

To see the "before" state, go to [1] and scroll down below Activity 4 and through Activity 5 and the paragraph following.

After

With major help from Doug and Barbara, we have replaced the applet with a Flash version that is

• much simpler for students to use,
• much faster to load,
• much cleaner looking,
• able to hide non-essential instructions in an "About" pop-up, and
• a model we can build on for other zooming and graphing activities in the text.
To see the "after" state, go to [2] and scroll down below Activity 4 and through Activity 5.