Why Java for Games Programming?
Short summary:
Java's suitability for games programming in terms of the typical games, presentations and articles, lists of Java game programming web sites, and ...
Long summary:
First the Advantages, but briefly...
One of my assumptions is that the reader (that's you) already has an introductory
knowledge of Java, the sort of stuff gleaned from a semester's course at college. Near
the start of that course, you'll have been regaled with Java's many advantages: object
orientation, cross-platform support, code reuse, ease of development, tool availability,
reliability and stability, good documentation, support from Sun Microsystems, low
development costs, the ability to use legacy code (e.g. C, C++), and increased
programmer productivity.
Rather than explain each of them again, I'll take a different approach. I'll discuss
Java's suitability for games programming in terms of the typical
misconceptions/complaints wheeled out by people who think that games must be
implemented in C, or C++, or assembler, or whatever (so long as its not Java).
Here's the list, briefly:
â ¢ Java is too slow for games programming;
â ¢ Java has memory leaks;
â ¢ Java is too high-level;
â ¢ Java isn't supported on games consoles, so why bother using it;
â ¢ No one uses Java to write real games;
â ¢ Sun Microsystems isn't interested in supporting Java gaming.
2. Java is Too Slow for Games Programming
They mean that Java is slow compared to C or C++, the dominant languages for
games programming at the moment.
This argument was valid when Java first appeared (around 1996), but has become
increasingly ridiculous with each new release. Some figures put JDK 1.0 at 20 to 40
times slower than C++. J2SE 1.4.2 (the current release) is typically 1.1-1.3 times
slower.
These numbers depend greatly on the coding style used. Java programmers must be
good programmers in order to utilise Java efficiently, but thatâ s true of any language.
Jack Shirazi's Java Performance Tuning site
(http://www.javaperformancetuning.com/) is a good source for performance tips, and
links to tools and other resources.
A recent benchmarking of Java vs C++ by Keith Lea caused quite a stir
Source: fivedots.coe.psu.ac.th
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