 | |
|
In This Issue
Welcome to the Java Technology Fundamentals Newsletter This monthly newsletter provides a way for you to learn the basics of the Java programming language, discover new resources, and keep up-to-date on the latest additions to Sun Developer Network's New to Java Center. Note: For the code in this issue of Fundamentals to compile, you need to use the JDK 5.0 software. This issue covers: What Do You Want to Read in the Newsletter?
We asked what you wanted to read in Java Technology Fundamentals, and you responded. Thank you to everyone who replied. The survey will remain online in the New to Java Center so that you can continue to add topics as the need arises. Based on reader feedback, you will see two new sections in this newsletter in coming months:
The Java Technology Fundamentals Newsletter will continue with the Java Programming Basics and with Making Sense of the Java Classes & Tools to cover the fundamentals of syntax and programming, the nuts and bolts of Java technologies. Additionally, the newsletter will continue to point to articles and tutorials on the NetBeans integrated development environment (IDE) and Sun Java Studio Creator IDE sites for those of you learning to program in an IDE. If you didn't have a chance to add topics you'd like to see covered in this newsletter, click here To see what we have covered in past issues, click here:
Lesson: Java Web Start Software Java Web Start software provides the power to launch full-featured applications with a single click. Users can download and launch applications, such as a complete spreadsheet program or an Internet chat client, without going through complicated installation procedures. With Java Web Start software, the user can launch a Java application by clicking a link in a web page. The link points to a Java Network Launching Protocol (JNLP) file, which instructs Java Web Start to download, cache, and run the application. Java Web Start software provides Java developers and users with many deployment advantages:
In Java Platform version 1.4.2 and later, Java Web Start software is installed as part of the Java Runtime Environment (JRE). Users do not have to install it separately or perform additional tasks to use Java Web Start applications.
Lesson: Concurrency Computer users take it for granted that their systems can do more than one thing at a time. They assume that they can continue to work in a word processor while other applications download files, manage the print queue, and stream audio. Even a single application is often expected to do more than one thing at a time. For example, that streaming audio application must simultaneously read the digital audio off the network, decompress it, manage playback, and update its display. Even the word processor should always be ready to respond to keyboard and mouse events, no matter how busy it is reformatting text or updating the display. Software that can do such things is known as concurrent software. The Java platform is designed from the ground up to support concurrent programming, with basic concurrency support in the Java programming language and the Java class libraries. Since version 5.0, the Java platform has also included high-level concurrency APIs. This lesson introduces the platform's basic currency support and summarizes some of the high-level APIs in the java.util.concurrent packages.
The Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SE platform) is used for a wide variety of applications from small applets on desktops to web services on large servers. In the J2SE 1.4.2 platform, the user could choose from four garbage collectors, but without an explicit choice by the user, the serial garbage collector was always chosen. In version 5.0, the choice of the collector is based on the class of the machine on which the application is started. This "smarter choice" of the garbage collector is generally better but is not always the best. For users who want to make their own choice of garbage collectors, this document will provide information on which to base that choice. This will first include the general features of the garbage collection and tuning options to take best advantage of those features. The examples are given in the context of the serial, stop-the-world collector. Then specific features of the other collectors will be discussed, along with factors that you should consider when choosing one of the other collectors.
Using Dynamic Page Navigation In this tutorial, you use the Sun Java Studio Creator integrated development environment (IDE) to create an application that uses dynamic page navigation. The application determines at runtime which page displays based on the value returned by the Drop Down List component. The Drop Down List enables the user to choose a destination page, and the application navigates to one of two available destination pages. You also learn an alternative and more advanced method of dynamic page navigation, which allows the page navigation to occur as soon as the selection is made from the Drop Down List.
Advanced Free-Form Project Configuration Free-form projects in the NetBeans IDE provide a very powerful tool for Java developers who build and run their applications using an Ant script. If you are comfortable working with Ant, you can edit your Ant script and the IDE project configuration file to achieve an even tighter integration between the NetBeans IDE and your build process. This article assumes that you have already completed the first steps in setting up a free-form project. See this guide for setting up a free-form standard project and a free-form web project. Read the tutorial and do the exercises: http://www.netbeans.org/kb/articles/gui-functionality.html Read the tutorial and do the exercises
The University of Kent and Sun Microsystems are collaborating to create a smooth migration path for students learning the Java programming language from beginners' stages through to the use of professional development tools. Sun Microsystems has for some time also supported the development of BlueJ, a programming environment developed at the University of Kent, UK, and Deakin University, Australia. BlueJ is an environment specifically aimed at beginning programmers. It offers educational tools such as visualization and interaction facilities that greatly aid the learning of object-oriented concepts. First released in 1999, BlueJ has become one of the most popular environments for programming education in introductory programming courses at universities and colleges.
Sun is offering the award-winning Sun Java Studio Enterprise and Sun Java Studio Creator IDEs at no cost to all developers worldwide who join the Sun Developer Network (SDN).
To send us feedback on this newsletter, please email fundamentals_newsletter@sun.com. | ||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||
