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Grex Internet Item 99: Java and HotJava - New Dimensions for the Web?
Entered by remmers on Wed Sep 27 11:58:27 UTC 1995:

 There was a big spread on Sun MicroSystems Java language in the business
 section of last Monday's New York Times. Developed by James Gosling,
 Java extends the World Wide Web by adding the capability of downloading
 and executing "applets"--small programs written in the Java language
 that execute directly on your PC and can thus take advantage of your
 PC's video and sound capabilities. This makes it possible to add smooth
 animation, sound, and real-time interaction to web pages.
    The potential of Java goes well beyond multimedia--it's a mechanism
 that allows computers to interact in a multitude of ways, to a large
 extent independent of operating system platform, since Java is an
 interpreted language.  Applications suggested by the Times article
 include delivering the morning newspaper electronically, performing
 automatic diagnosis and repair of computers from an on-line service
 center, and interactive multi-user games.  Many industry experts expect
 Java to be the next "big thing" in computing. According to Larry Smarr,
 director of NCSA (developers of Mosaic), Java is the "hottest thing on
 the Net."
    In order to take advantage of all this, you need a web browser that
 supports Java. Sun's HotJava browser is available now in a beta version
 for a few platforms--Solaris, Windows NT, Windows 95 (but not Windows
 3.1). A version of HotJava for Mac System 7 is under development.
 Netscape has announced that it will support Java in future releases
 of the Netscape browser.
    I downloaded HotJava the other day. So far I'm pretty impressed.
 There are a number of Java demos on the net that you can try out.
 A cute hangman game with sound, animation, and user interaction;
 an interactive proof of the Pythagorean theorem that lets you draw
 the triangle and then leads you through the steps via mouse clicks;
 applets that download 3-dimensional objects and let you rotate them
 by dragging the mouse; a Chernobyl simulation in real-time where you
 try to avert disaster by shutting down the system--stuff like that.
 Nothing really fancy, but nice illustrations of the potential. Java
 can make web pages seem to come to life.
    The HotJava browser, and information on Java, are available from
 the Java homepage: <URL: http://java.sun.com>.

5 responses total.

#1 of 5 by marcvh on Wed Sep 27 20:13:54 1995:

Java has a lot of cool possibilities.  In the short run, they will
not be effectively exploited (instead lots of useless and cheesy
animation and stuff will get thrown around) but in the long run the
possibilities are pretty exciting.  The security issues are also
rather substantial, and Java is being incorporated by Netscape, the
company that can't even seed a simple random number generator right.

#2 of 5 by srw on Thu Sep 28 06:16:30 1995:

Yeah, i read that Times article too, but I haven't had time to 
investigate further. It said that there is built in protection against
viruses, but I am very suspicious. The more you automate, the more exposed
you are to someone sending you an unexpected automation.

That said, I am interested in trying this out some time.

#3 of 5 by bmoran on Fri Oct 6 05:18:14 1995:

Just watch out for "Good Times"

#4 of 5 by samnath on Sat Jun 29 08:55:20 1996:

This is , I feel, helpful for guys like me, Please continue this with
more discussions about the application areas of Java,
especially in Network Management. In our Institute we thougt of 
designing a Intranet manager package ourselves as part of our(my) 
curriculum, that is , as a project work.. I expect I can get more help
from this sort of discussions. I want to analyse about the full 
power of Java from the view of experienced people.

#5 of 5 by matthew on Mon Sep 2 06:33:25 1996:

Anyone have any feedback, thoughts, advice etc on JavaScript ?

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