[tetrinext] Re: How is it going?

[Alexander Hvostov <vulture@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jared,

I just had a thought: why not implement TINT in Java?

Here are some points I should make about Java:

- Recent Java implementations from Sun (version 1.3) are very fast,
equipped with a just-in-time compiler, optimizing source compiler, and
other such things. The performance of modern Java is, without question,
more than adequate for TINT.

  Those of you who think Java is slow because Java applets are slow should
be reminded that most Web browsers run applets in sorely outdated (and, as
is the case with M$ Internet Explorer, just plain lousy) implementations
of the Java platform, so _of course_ they're slow.

- Java's relatively recent Java 2D API, from what I know about it, can do
most of what SDL can do, and should fit the TINT bill, with the exception
that I don't believe Java 2D can do fullscreen. This shouldn't be a
problem, though, since it is very easy to get the size of the screen, and
equally easy to size our own window appropriately, and equally easy to
scale all the bitmaps using a very good scaling algorithm. This, by the
way, means you can make high-resolution bitmaps, and they should be fine
when scaled down. Of course, there are bound to be exceptions to this
rule...

- Writing code in Java is _much_ easier than C or C++, from my personal
experience, as long as you have some good books and a good IDE like
Borland JBuilder. I know, it's non-free, but that doesn't make your code
non-free.

- The resulting code is almost guaranteed to be portable, and it wouldn't
be that hard to implement a Quake-like game mod structure (but tons
better), complete with a security system, thanks to Java's security model.

Tell me what you people think about this. Are there any things I've
missed?

Regards,

Alex.

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On Tue, 14 Nov 2000, Jared Johnson wrote:

> > drslum,
> > 
> > This is the first email I've received on this list in a few months. Does
> > that answer your question?
> 
> Indeed, things aren't really going at all.  Not only have I not really found
> anyone with enough interest and ability to pursue TINT or related projects, 
> but
> life has sort of gotten in the way for me to take any initiative myself.  This
> may soon change.  For now, I am basically holding the thing back and not even
> trying to more forward -- because I don't want to see a handful of people try
> to get involved only to find out that the thing is going nowhere :-/
> 
> The time that I can dedicate to such a project and my own abilities to help
> will probably both increase in a while.  Until then, cool things will only
> happen if someone(s) step forward and _do_ something :-)
> 
> Cheers!
> 
> -- 
> Jared Johnson
> solomon@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> 
> You will be reincarnated as a toad; and you will be much happier.
> 
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> 
>