Why Java for Game Development?

The complex nature of game programming makes it essential for programmer to pick a programming language he is already proficient in. However, he still needs to consider several factors while choosing a programming language for the gaming project. Along with choosing an easy-to-learn language, the programmer also need to check if the language is fast and powerful enough for game development, compatible with game development APIs and libraries, and compatible with widely used platforms and devices. As a powerful object oriented programming language, Java meets all these criterions. There are also several features that make Java the best programming language for game development.

What Makes Java the Best Programming Language for Game Development?

Easy to Use: Java is much simpler to code and maintain than other programming languages. So the game developers can write, compile and debug the code without putting any extra effort. At the same time, the object-oriented feature of Java enables them to create modular programs and reuse the code. The game developer can rely on Java to curtail the game development and deployment time.

Compatibility: Java runs on a virtual machine called JVM. So the Java byte code can run smoothly on various widely used platforms. The feature makes it easier for game developers to create games that run on multiple platforms. As Java is platform-independent at both source and binary levels, it becomes easier for programmers to deploy the game by switching from one system to another.

Multithreaded: Most game developers opt for multithreaded programming languages to simultaneously perform several tasks within the game. Many programming language accomplish multithreading through operating system-specific procedures. But Java is designed with integrated multithreaded programming. That is why; it is one of the most effective programming languages to create timer-based game loop system. Also, programmers can avail the multithreading feature of Java to perform multiple tasks within the game at a time.

Large Amount of Libraries: The game developers also have option to avail a large collection of Java libraries. They can simply use a specific Java library to accomplish specific tasks without writing lengthy and complex code. Java 8 further enables developers to simplify their code using lambda expressions. The feature further helps them in writing code that is compact, simple and easy-to-maintain. The reduced boilerplate code improves the productivity of developers, while curtailing the game development time.

Option to Create Mesmerizing Graphics: Like other applications, games also use eye-popping graphics to keep the users engaged. The quality of the graphic can also have a direct impact on the game’s popularity. Java 8 comes with a graphics toolkit called JavaFX 8. The standard development kit includes innovative UI controls, HTML5 support, 3D graphics feature and embedded graphics stack. So it becomes easier for developers to optimize the overall look, feel and appeal of the video game by incorporating eye-popping images.

Java Game Development Tools: The game developers also have option to use several powerful Java game development tools. As Java is used widely for Android mobile apps and games, it also becomes easier for the developers to create games by targeting the most popular mobile platform. Some of the powerful 3-D game engines like jMonkeyEngine have made it easier for developers to create 3D worlds for games that run seamlessly on multiple platforms and devices. As these open source game engines are written in Java, these can be modified by the game programmers without using any other programming language.

Despite being used widely for web application development, Java is still considered by many game programmers to be unsuitable for video game development. But you will find several popular notable and popular video games designed using Java. It is always important to evaluate the features of Java according to the specific needs of the game development project to decide the right programming language. You can get in touch with Java application development companies who can help you develop web apps that are stable, scalable and secure.

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Java Versions - Features & Enhancements

Java, the software platform developed by Oracle has undergone a series of modifications as well as improvements, since the development of JDK or Java Development Kit version 1.0. All these modifications have seen the addition/incorporation of new features and enhancement of the existing ones, with a view to provide value added service to the users. Let us discuss some of the features as well as enhancements that the platform has undergone over the last few years.

However, before we get into the features, let us run through different versions of Java that have seen the daylight over the years. The endeavor of the language started in the year 1996 with the introduction of Java 1.0. The first version was followed by version 1.1 in 1997 and 1.2 in 1998. The subsequent years saw the introduction of versions 1.3, and 1.4 in 2000 and 2002, respectively. Years 2004 and 2006 saw the introduction of versions 5 and 6 respectively, while version 7 was introduced in mid 2011 followed by the version 8 in mid late 2012.

Speaking about the new features or enhancements, let us start with Spring Framework 4.0 that was introduced in 2004. The platform has seen major modifications since then. For example, Spring 2.0 version came up with XML namespaces along with AspectJ support. On the other hand, Spring 2.5 version featured configuration that is mainly annotation-driven. Again, Spring 3.0 was rich in a solid J 5+ foundation across its framework codebase along with certain other features like @Configuration model, that is mainly based on Java.

When we say that a configuration is annotation-driven, it means that it is a typical type of annotation wherein a certain type of processing is used that provides all the meta-data or configuration information in the J based source file.

The next in the line was version 4.0 that provides a full support for version 8. Yet, this also allows the use of Spring with the older versions as well, though for that the user would need at least SE 6.

Again, when we come to version 4.0, we see that many classes as well as methods have been removed. On the other hand the Spring 4.0 Framework comes up with a number of features that are supported by the version 8. Still, Spring has retained its compatibility with the previous versions of Java application Development Kit and Java. The bottom line is that it is pretty difficult to describe all the features or the enhancements of the language versions. Yet, let us get into a synopsis of them. JDK version 1.1 came up with JDBC (Java Database Connectivity), inner classes, Java Beans, RMI (Remote Method Invocation), Reflection.

J2SE Version 1.2 has come up with Collections Framework, Just In Time (JIT) compiler, Java String memory map for constants, Jar Signer to sign Java ARchive (JAR) files, Java Foundation Classes (JFC) consisting of Swing 1.0, Drag and Drop, and J 2D class library, CLOB, sets of scrollable result, batch update, BLOB, user-defined types of JDBC, J Plug-ins, Applet Audio support.

JDK Version 1.1 comes up with J Database Connectivity, Java Beans, Reflection, Remote Method Invocation. J2SE Version 1.4 features XML Processing, J Web Start, J Print Service, Assertions, JDBC 3.0 API, Chained Exception, Logging API, Preferences API, Assertions, Image I/O API, Regular Expressions, IPv6 Support.

J SE 6 contains Scripting Language Support, J Compiler API, JDBC 4.0 API, Pluggable Annotations, Integrated Web Services, integrated Web Services. LDAP support, Java GSS, Kerberos, Native PKI.

J SE 7 features Automatic null Handling, Binary Literals, underscore in literals, Diamond Syntax, J nio Package, Dynamic Language Support, Type Inference for Generic Instance Creation, Handling of Multiple Exceptions, Strings in switch Statement.

J SE 8 features include TLS SNI, Parallel operations, Concurrent Accumulators, Type Annotations, Nashhorn JavaScript Engine, Default Methods, Type Annotations, Date and Time API, Lambda Expressions, Pipelines and Streams.

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