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With all the hype surrounding
Java and what it will do for the Internet, it
should come as no surprise that games are being
hyped as one of the most interesting
applications of Java. Indeed, that's probably
why you bought this book to begin with! Even
though Java includes many useful features for
games, it still isn't quite the ideal gaming
language for the Internet.
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Just because Java isn't
an ideal Internet gaming language doesn't
mean that it doesn't deliver on many
accounts. In reality there probably will
never be an ideal gaming language because
games have such unique programming
challenges and languages tend to be
designed for general use.
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Although it's not the ideal
language, Java does have much to offer for
mixing games with the Web equation. Java as a
technology is poised to bring interactivity to
the Web in a general sense. Java games are only
one aspect of this "interactive revolution."
Java provides a level of platform independence,
security, and network support that is still
unattainable in any other language. All these
issues are of utmost importance in any
technology that is to bring interactive games to
the Web.
Platform independence
refers to the capability of a single executable
program to run on a variety of different
computer systems.
This discussion might make a
little more sense in the context of an example,
so let's look at one. Consider an educational
Web page attempting to discuss desert animals
and how they interact with one another. Before
Java, without using complex platform-dependent
programming languages, the Web presentation
would have been limited to text and inlined
graphics. Now imagine a Java game inserted right
into the Web pages, which allows students to
play the role of a desert animal contending with
other desert predators. This level of
interactivity combined with the accessibility of
the Web can't be matched by any other media. Web
games written in Java will truly change the way
you perceive the Web as a whole. |
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