Flow of java logic

Question

This question is as beginner as beginner can get.
History: I've programmed in Basic, fortran and cobol back when computer programs were input on computer cards.
Problem: Understanding the basic flow of logic in the java programs.
Situation: I am used to running a program from top to bottom. You know, using the old goto statements to move around and loops to redo things. Well, My problem is understanding the flow of the basic java program.
Sinerio:
1.) An HTML page runs a java applet. (I can do that, no problem)
2.) Applet runs and prints a picture on the screen. (I can do this too)
3.) Here is the confusing part...I've wanted to make it so on mouseOver(over the image), the image flops horizontal. There are multiple images all over the page. (I'm not looking for the code so please don't spend the time...but the thought is appreciated)
So, lets say the basic structure of the program is...
public void init()
public void start()
public void run()
public void paint(....)
private void displayImage(....)
public void stop()
Now, the questions:
Initially, I can understand that the flow is to run the init area, the start area and then the run area. And, so and so forth depending on the programming. The confusing part is, lets say, a person moves the mouse back onto one of the image areas, does the program restart at the init area or at the run area? For this question, assume that the mouseOver routine has no code in it.
Confused?.....I am. :)

Answer 1

does the
program restart at the init area or at the run area?No.
You might want to google for an intro to event-driven programming.
What happens is this (roughly--I don't do GUIs, so some details are probably wrong):
You add buttons and panels and icons and whatever to your GUI.
You add EvenListeners (such as MouseListeners) to these GUI elements.
There's a thread running that you don't really see that is fed all the GUI events. When you called addMouseListener() or whatever, you told this thread of your interest in certain events.
When a GUI event occurs, the GUI thread looks to see which listeners have expressed interest in the particular event, and calls their respective mouseOver or buttonClicked or whatever methods--often called "callback" methods.
The mysterious GUI thread is probably what's confusing you. It is effectively an infinite while loop that just waits for the VM to inform it of an event (of which the VM has been informed by the OS) and when an event occurs, it informs the appropriate listeners, then goes and waits for the next event.
This thread is started when you create GUI elements or draw them or something--not sure exaclty what triggers it, but something pretty fundamental in the Swing or AWT classes kicks this thread off when you do something that indicates you'll need to handle these events.
If you're confused by the notion of a "thread", check out http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/essential/threads/