Multithreadded applet just will not die. Why?

Question

Hi!
The applet code is below. In short, it
has four classes:
Mulka - a simple graphic object to draw (basically
a cross)
DaThing - a Thread class which draws many many
Mulkas
AnotherThing - a thread class which draws a
string on top of mulkas.
And, of course, the main applet class.
The main applet class create two objects: one
instance of DaThing and on instance of
AnotherThing then starts them both. So, they
are drawing at the same time. After that
the applet does not do a thing. However, it
handles mouseDown event and if the mouse
got down 5 times the applet stops the
threads and stops itself.
The problem is that IT DOES stop the
threads but continues to execute itself, so,
clicking the mouse will still draw a box and
repaint the applet graphics area. Why is that?
How do i completely stop the applet?
Regards,
Artem
import java.applet.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.util.*;
// graphics object to draw
public class Mulka {
       private int x,y;
       private int hx,hy;
       private final int width=16;
       private final int height=16;
       private Color bgcolor;
       private Color color;
       public void setcolor (Color c){
              color=c;
       public void setxy(int x, int y) {
              this.x=x;
              this.y=y;
       public void sethotspot(int x, int y) {
              hx=x;
              hy=y;
       public void setbgcolor (Color c){
              bgcolor=c;
       public void draw(Graphics g) {
              // a simple cross
              g.setColor(color);
              g.drawLine(x+hx,y+hy,x+width-1+hx,y+height-1+hy);
              g.drawLine(x+width-1+hx,y+hy,x+hx,y+height-1+hy);
       public void undraw(Graphics g) {
              g.setColor(bgcolor);
              g.drawLine(x+hx,y+hy,x+width-1+hx,y+height-1+hy);
              g.drawLine(x+width-1+hx,y+hy,x+hx,y+height-1+hy);
       public Mulka (int x, int y){
              hx=0;
              hy=0;
              color=Color.black;
              bgcolor=Color.white;
              this.x=x;
              this.y=y;
       public Mulka (){
              hx=0;
              hy=0;
              color=Color.black;
              bgcolor=Color.white;
              this.x=0;
              this.y=0;
public class AnotherThing extends Thread {
       Graphics g = null;
       String text;
       AnotherThing (String name){
                    super(name);
                    text=name;
       public void setg (Graphics g){
              this.g=g;
       public void run (){
              Random rand = new Random();
              while (true){
                    try{
                        g.setColor(                                      new Color(
                                           (int)(rand.nextFloat()*255),
                                           (int)(rand.nextFloat()*255),
                                           (int)(rand.nextFloat()*255)
                        g.drawString(text,50+(int)(rand.nextFloat()*5),50);
                    catch(InterruptedException e) {
                      this.stop();
public class DaThing extends Thread {
       Graphics g = null;
       Mulka mulkas[] = new Mulka[10];
       String text;
       DaThing (String name){
                    super(name);
                    text=name;
       public void setg (Graphics g){
              this.g=g;
       public void run (){
              int i;
              Random rand=new Random();
              while(true){
                          try{
                            for (i=0;i<10;i++){
                                mulkas=new Mulka();
mulkas[i].setxy(
(int)(rand.nextFloat()*300),
(int)(rand.nextFloat()*200));
mulkas[i].setcolor(
new Color(
(int)(rand.nextFloat()*255),
(int)(rand.nextFloat()*255),
(int)(rand.nextFloat()*255)
for (i=0;i<10;i++){
mulkas[i].draw(g);
catch(InterruptedException e) {
this.stop();
public class OffScreen extends Applet {
DaThing draw_thread = null;
AnotherThing thing= null;
int waitforclicks=5;
public void init () {
System.out.println("Applet inited");
waitforclicks=5;
resize(320,240);
public void start() {
System.out.println("Applet started");
if (draw_thread == null){
draw_thread = new DaThing("First thread");
draw_thread.setg(getGraphics());
draw_thread.start();
if (thing == null){
thing = new AnotherThing("Another thread");
thing.setg(getGraphics());
thing.start();
public void stop() {
if (draw_thread != null){
draw_thread.stop();
draw_thread=null;
if (thing != null){
thing.stop();
thing=null;
System.out.println("Applet finished");
public boolean mouseDown(Event evt, int x, int y){
Graphics g=getGraphics();
System.out.println("Clicked mouse");
g.fillRect(x,y,50,50);
repaint();
waitforclicks--;
if (waitforclicks<1){
System.out.println("This was the last click");
stop();
return true;

Answer 1

Thanks for replies.
As for exit then I think is should be done like
Runtime rt=getRuntime();
rt.exit(0);But it works only in debugger :( In a browser exit()
is just ignored.
So, basically, the only way to at least emulate
visually the death of an applet i should do something
like below (notice the isActive flag). Is it so?
import java.applet.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.lang.*;
public class DieTest extends Applet {
       int count=5;
       int x=0;
       boolean isActive=true;
       public void init() {
              System.out.println("Applet inited");
       public void stop() {
              System.out.println("Applet Stopped");
       public boolean mouseDown(Event evt, int x, int y){
              Runtime a = Runtime.getRuntime();
              Graphics g=getGraphics();
              if (isActive==true){
                 count--;
                 System.out.println("Clicked mouse: "+x);
                 g.drawString(count+"",x,y);
                 if (count<1){
                    System.out.println("Clicked last time");
                    stop();
                    isActive=false;
              return true;
}