Java's Potential for the Academic Environment

Java's Potential for the Academic Environment

By Abdul H. Aziz,
Center for Academic Computing

The Most Widely Used Java Visualizations

Java is a platform-independent, object oriented programming language that was developed for the Internet by Sun Microsystems. Since its inception in the fall of 1995, Java has indeed made the theme "Write Once, Run Everywhere" a true reality. This reality has prompted many companies, including International Business Machines (IBM), to re-evaluate their strategies in developing software for the end user. Java's uses include but are not limited to:

Scientific visualization of large data sets such as the software named Visualization for Algorithm Development VisAD (http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~billh/visad.html)
Networking: Java servlet-based solutions have superior performance and scalability
(http://www.javasoft.com/products/servlet)
Accessing databases from simple ones like Microsoft Access to more elaborate and complex ones such as IBM-DB2
Education enhancement such as the case with the Java applet that was developed at Penn State by Professor Richard Mansfield of the Department of Mathematics. This Java applet solves a system of ordinary differential equations and the solution is shown graphically. The following figure shows a snapshot of the Java applet. A detailed description of this applet is available at the following URL: http://www.math.psu.edu/melvin/phase/newphase.html

Figure A: A snapshot of the Java applet that was developed by Professor Mansfield of the Department of Mathematics at Penn State.

The platform-independent or "write once and run everywhere" breakthrough was achieved via the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). The JVM is a system program that translates the byte code into machine-language instructions for a given platform. Each one of these machine-language instructions is translated and executed using the interpreter. The following figure shows a schematic presentation of the Java Virtual Machine for the IBM-PC.

Java is programmed using the Java Development Kit (JDK). The first release of JDK 1.0 was in the fall of 1995. JDK 1.1 was released in the fall of 1997 after an improvement to the handling event was made. In December of 1998, JDK 1.2 was released, which enabled Java3D to be used.

The development of a Java program (applets and/or stand-alone applications) begins with a JDK that is suitable for your system. The web site http://www.sun.com/java may be visited to download the JDK that is appropriate for your system. The most frequently used JDK components are listed below:

javac.exe
The Java compiler that converts your Java source into byte code.

appletviewer.exe
A "mini" browser used to view Java applets on a local host.

java.exe
Interpreter used to run your stand-alone Java application.

There are many visual tools to assist a Java programmer and cut down on development time. The seven Java visual tools listed in the table below have proven to be widely used in the Java industry and educational community for developing Java programs.

At the present time, many software developers have either written an interface to their packages, as is the case with MATLAB and MATHEMATICA, or they are using Java to develop the new routines that are attached to their software. For example MathWorks and the National Institute of Standard and Technology (NIST) developed JAMA to solve problems in linear algebra.

In the near future, Jini technology, which is based on Java, will be widely used by network engineers and system administrators. Jini extends the power of Java by bringing simplicity and mobility to network computing. It enables devices to communicate with one another anywhere, anytime. A Jini-enabled device or software service will create a spontaneous network with other Jini-enabled devices or software services.

There is no wasted time learning the Java language: a programming language that is simple, secure, multithreaded, dynamic, small, standard and most importantly is platform independent. As time goes by, more and more educational institutes are embracing Java in teaching and research. In 1998, David B. Lection, an IBM software developer, stated the following:

"Java will be, by the year 2001, the dominant languageboth in number of programmers and number of projects."

If you would like to learn more about the strengths and weaknesses of Java or get started on Java programming, the Visualization Group conducts a series of Java seminars each semester. For seminar descriptions, schedule, and registration, see http://cac.psu.edu/training on the Web.

Another valuable resource at Penn State is the Java User Group (JUG). JUG was founded to help the community at Penn State to learn more about Java and share ideas. If you are interested in joining the JUG, please send e-mail to vizgroup@cac.psu.edu

For additional information, refer to the following Sun Microsystems pages on the Web:

http://java.sun.com/
The Java Software web site, with the latest information on Java technology, product information, news, and features.

http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/
Java 2 SDK Product and Download Page

http://java.sun.com/docs/
Java Platform Documentation provides access to white papers, the Java Tutorial and other documents.

http://developer.java.sun.com/
The Java Developer Connection web site. Additional technical information, news, and features; user forums; support information, and much more

http://java.sun.com/products/
Java Technology Products & API

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Last revised: Thursday, February 16, 2006.