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<title>Application Foundation Classes</title>
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<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Application Foundation Classes</span></span>
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<div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content mw-content-ltr" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><p>The <b>Application Foundation Classes</b> (AFC) were a graphical framework for building <a href="Java_(programming_language)" title="Java (programming language)">Java</a>-based <a href="Graphical_user_interface" title="Graphical user interface">graphical user interfaces</a> (GUIs), developed by <a href="Microsoft" title="Microsoft">Microsoft</a> and shipped as part of the Microsoft SDK for Java. AFC was based on the <a href="Abstract_Window_Toolkit" title="Abstract Window Toolkit">Abstract Window Toolkit</a> (AWT), but its architecture made it easier to extend components to better fit user needs.
</p><p>AFC components were announced to be cross-platform, but they worked better with <a href="Microsoft_Java_Virtual_Machine" title="Microsoft Java Virtual Machine">Microsoft Java Virtual Machine</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and support on non-<a href="Microsoft_Windows" title="Microsoft Windows">Windows</a> platform was problematic.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="History">History</h2></div>
<p>The release of AFC (along with <a href="J/Direct" title="J/Direct">J/Direct</a> (instead of JNI), and <a href="Visual_J%2B%2B#The_WFC" title="Visual J++">WFC</a>), was part of an effort by Microsoft to gain leadership on the growing <a href="Java_(programming_language)" title="Java (programming language)">Java</a> community.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>With the release of <a href="Java_Foundation_Classes" title="Java Foundation Classes">Java Foundation Classes</a>, interest for AFC dropped, and they later were no longer maintained.
</p>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2></div>
<ul><li><a href="Java_Foundation_Classes" title="Java Foundation Classes">Java Foundation Classes</a></li>
<li><a href="Swing_(Java)" title="Swing (Java)">Swing (Java)</a></li></ul>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>
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<li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">
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</style><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.extropia.com/tutorials/java/java_afc_jfc.html">"Introduction to Web Programming"</a>. extropia.com. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070626215112/http://www.extropia.com/tutorials/java/java_afc_jfc.html">Archived</a> from the original on 26 June 2007<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2007-07-14</span></span>. <q><i>There are actually two versions of the AFC. One works with Microsoft's Java Virtual Machine that comes as part of Microsoft Internet Explorer and JDK 1.1 and another that works with the JDK 1.02. The AFC is optimized to work with Microsoft's implementation of Java and should provide higher performance and less system resource use with Microsoft's own Java implementation.</i></q></cite></span>
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<li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/upgrade/javaplatform/">"Upgrade to the Official Sun Java Platform"</a>. sun.com. October 2003. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070814065258/http://java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/upgrade/javaplatform/">Archived</a> from the original on 14 August 2007<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2007-07-14</span></span>. <q><i>Using technologies like J/Direct (instead of JNI), Windows Foundation Classes (WFC), and Application Foundation Classes (AFC), accessing any Microsoft Windows VM specific classes may require developers to substitute similar standard technologies.</i></q></cite></span>
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<li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070927045248/http://www.dbmsmag.com/9710d02.html">"Microsoft Wants to Close the Door on Non-Windows Java Applications"</a>. dbmsmag.com. 1997-09-26. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.dbmsmag.com/9710d02.html">the original</a> on 2007-09-27<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2007-07-14</span></span>. <q><i>AFC is currently a Windows-only solution, and like J/Direct, it locks Java developers into Windows.</i></q></cite></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.xent.com/FoRK-archive/july97/0491.html">"JFC; Microsoft declares war"</a>. xent.com. 1997-08-01<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2007-07-14</span></span>.</cite></span>
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2></div>
<ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://jdj.sys-con.com/read/35823.htm">AFC presentation</a></li></ul>
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</style><div id="Java_desktop71" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="Java_(software_platform)" title="Java (software platform)">Java</a> desktop</div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">APIs</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="Java_Foundation_Classes" title="Java Foundation Classes">Java Foundation Classes</a></li>
<li><a href="Abstract_Window_Toolkit" title="Abstract Window Toolkit">Abstract Window Toolkit</a>
<ul><li><a href="Java_AWT_Native_Interface" title="Java AWT Native Interface">Java AWT Native Interface</a></li></ul></li>
<li><a href="Standard_Widget_Toolkit" title="Standard Widget Toolkit">Standard Widget Toolkit</a></li>
<li><a href="Java_2D" title="Java 2D">Java 2D</a></li>
<li><a href="Java_3D" title="Java 3D">Java 3D</a></li>
<li><a href="Swing_(Java)" title="Swing (Java)">Swing</a>
<ul><li><a href="SwingWorker" title="SwingWorker">SwingWorker</a></li>
<li><a href="Pluggable_look_and_feel" title="Pluggable look and feel">Pluggable look and feel</a></li>
<li><a href="Synth_Look_and_Feel" title="Synth Look and Feel">synth Look and Feel</a></li></ul></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Deprecated APIs</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="Java_applet" title="Java applet">Java applet</a></li>
<li><a href="Lightweight_User_Interface_Toolkit" title="Lightweight User Interface Toolkit">Lightweight User Interface Toolkit</a></li></ul>
</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Open-source</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em">
<ul><li><a href="JavaFX" title="JavaFX">JavaFX</a></li>
<li><a href="Java_OpenGL" title="Java OpenGL">Java OpenGL</a></li>
<li><a href="Java_Bindings_for_OpenGL" title="Java Bindings for OpenGL">Java Bindings for OpenGL</a></li>
<li><a href="Lightweight_Java_Game_Library" class="mw-redirect" title="Lightweight Java Game Library">Lightweight Java Game Library</a>
<ul><li><a href="LibGDX" title="LibGDX">libGDX</a></li></ul></li>
<li><a href="Qt_Jambi" class="mw-redirect" title="Qt Jambi">Qt Jambi</a></li>
<li><a href="QuickTime_for_Java" title="QuickTime for Java">QuickTime for Java</a></li>
<li><a href="SwingLabs" title="SwingLabs">swingLabs</a></li></ul>
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