Java

From Wikia Gaming, your source for walkthroughs, games, guides, and more!

By Java, we refer to the Java Platform from Sun Microsystems. The Java Platform is a portable environment for developing and running applications on different types of computers; "Write once, run everywhere." Java Edition includes the Java programming language and the Java core library. Users who want to play Java games must install a Java Runtime Environment onto their computer, though some operating systems include one.

http://www.java.com/ is a portal to some Java games.

Contents 1 Java applets 1.1 Why there were few Java applets 2 Java applications 3 Java on the server 4 Installing Java 5 Free alternatives to Java

[edit] Java applets

Java 1.0 introduced the concept of a Java applet, a rectangular zone on a web page that could display a Java program. If you wanted to play Slime Volleyball, for example, then you would open a web browser like Netscape Navigator 2.0 or Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 and visit a web page with the game.

A security manager applied itself to Java applets, to prevent applets from accessing your files or doing any other unsafe activity. Java programs compiled into bytecode, not native machine code, so Java applets worked on different types of machines. You could play Slime Volleyball on Macintosh, Solaris, or Windows.

[edit] Why there were few Java applets

Java 1.0 had some interesting programming features. String objects were in Unicode and allowed Java to handle international languages; URL objects provided an abstract way to connect to the network; the garbage collector prevented memory problems that would cause crashes. Java was simpler than C++ and became popular in education.

But the Abstract Window Toolkit, the part of the Java core library for accessing native Macintosh, X11, or Windows widgets, lacked features and had an inefficient event model. Sound had to be ".au" files at 8000 Hz low quality and images were not easy to load. Features that poor could not attract many game programmers.

Newer versions of Java made improvements, but Apple, Microsoft and Netscape hung themselves with Java 1.1 even though programmers wanted to use Java 1.2 or later. Just installing the current version of Java onto a computer became an obstacle.

("JavaScript", a language for scripting web browsers and programming web pages, became common, but JavaScript a completely different language than Java!)

[edit] Java applications

Other than Java applets, there are Java applications that run outside the web browser. Java applications originally were not easy to install and launch until Java 1.4 introduced Java Web Start. With Java 1.4 installed a links can be embedded within web pages to install Java applications.

An example of a Java Web Start game is Legerdemain. To play, just visit http://roguelikefiction.com/ and click the correct "download here" link.

Currently, there are not many large scale games using 3D graphics in Java. Though some developers, including those of RuneScape, have pioneered methods to effectively display 3D graphics in Java. Initial developer installations of Java did not provide a programming interface for 3D graphics. Note however that since Java is interpreted bytecode, Java may be too slow for CPU-intensive games that would normally require a faster computer with a lot of computational ability.

[edit] Java on the server

Some web server administrators were able to install Java and use it to script their web servers. Java is a lower-level language than Perl, PHP or Python, but some CGI programmers prefer Java.

In most cases, when using a web browser you are not aware if a web site uses Java or some other technology.

[edit] Installing Java

Windows and Solaris

1. Visit Sun Microsystems at http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp
2. Follow the instructions

Linux x86 and x86-64

• Follow the above instructions for Windows and Solaris. Note that Sun Microsystems does not provide Java for other architectures of Linux, like Alpha or PowerPC! (Blackdown has some old versions of Java for some architectures.)

Mac OS

1. Upgrade to the latest version of Mac OS X.
2. Run "Software Update".

Apple does not port current versions of Java to older versions of Mac OS X. Running new Java programs may require you to pay for an upgrade to Mac OS X!

Commercial server operating systems

• Some vendors of Unix or VMS have licenses from Sun Microsystems and provide ports of Java to their platforms. Check your operating systems' web site.

Other Unix

• If you run BSD x86 or x86-64, you might be able to use a Linux version of Java under emulation. If you run Linux PowerPC, you may be able to register with IBM and obtain their IBM Developer Kit containing Java.

[edit] Free alternatives to Java

There are free alternatives to Java that have been ported to more platforms. They implement most of Java 1.4, but also have other features. Most of them use GNU Classpath for their core library. Look at JVMs that use Classpath or try GCJ or Kaffe. You may be able to use them to play Java games on Linux or BSD.

Some Linux distros, like Ubuntu, include a free alternative to Java.

Sun Microsystems is in the process of freeing Java itself. The OpenJDK project has HotSpot, a Java bytecode interpeter, and Javac, the Java language compiler. A free and open source Java may generate more interest in Java and more Java games.