Java was designed from the start with networking in
mind. Java became famous because of applets, which were invented
to provide dynamic content to web pages. Many other features of
Java, however, extend Java network programming far beyond mere applets.
Some of these include:
- java.net
package in the core language includes numerous network related
classes.
- Remote Method Invocation (RMI) packages allow a Java
program running on one machine to invoke methods on another machine.
- Streaming I/O architecture provides a uniform structure
in that I/O over a network is treated the same as I/O to a disk
or the console.
- Serialization allows objects to be sent over a network
and reconstructed on another machine.
- Threading allows easier creation of server programs where
threads can be easily spun off to serve new clients as they connect.
- java.security
and other packages allow for secure interactions over networks.
- Portability of java means that Java networking programs
developed on one type of platform can also run and communicate
with each other when used on other platforms.
In this chapter and the rest of Part II, we examine
the above topics and other aspects of networking with Java.
Latest update: Dec. 8, 2004
|