Dan Pilone

Java 3D is not a newcomer to the Java API world; however, it has suffered from slow acceptance due to the general resistance to client-side Java. Now that machines are faster, hardware 3D accelerators are a dime a dozen, and newer JVMs rival native code, client-side Java and 3D graphics are finally making headway. This article presents a brief background on Java 3D, a few example applications, then finally some hints on using it in the real world. Historically, 3D graphics have been very computationally intensive and required highly tuned coding to get it right. Starting with Silicon Graphic's (SGI) GL, the API consisted of expressing points to make up lines and polygons. Rotations and translations were expressed as matrix manipulations using a matrix stack. To help spread the word about 3D graphics, SGI, along with a collection of other vendors, developed OpenGL, a... (more)

Pervasive Computing: the Next Generation of Consumer Applications

How enterprise software is written has undergone a major shift with the introduction of distributed technologies like EJBs and Web-based thin clients. However, this new approach to writing software has not trickled down to consumer applications such as recipe managers, cookbooks, or word processors. I discuss some of the problems that historically have held back distributed development, present an example next-gen application using J2ME, and then discuss some of the architectural issues inherent in distributed consumer software. Let's face it, there are few real consumer-level ... (more)