handleEvent Method

Events usually emerge within a Java program through the handleEvent method included in the AWT Component class.

If you look at the handleEvent implementation, you will see that it is largely a switching function that directs events to some eleven convenience methods that handle particular kinds of events, such as action, mouseDown, or keyDown. Note, also, that the method simply does a return false for all other events. Thus, the normal practice is for a Java program to override the handleEvent and convenience methods.