Java 3D Overview - Interactive Web-Based Virtual Reality with Java 3D - page 19

Together, these classes and methods give the programmer the basic tools to construct a
simple rotating cube system to a 3D virtual city.
An important concept in Java 3D programming is that the program and the programming
objects created has a tree like structure. Thus, a Java3D program will create and instanti-
ate Java 3D objects and places them in a virtual world through the use of a tree like scene
graph. This will be explained in greater detail in subsequent sections

GettInG started

To develop an application in Java3D, several tools for writing, compiling, running, and
debugging Java3D programs are needed. Appendix A gives details on the various steps
needed for downloading three major tools, the Java Development Kit (JDK), the JCreator
Integrated Development Environment and the Java3D Application Programming Interface
(API), for this purpose. Note that the steps described are for workstations that have not had
any Java applications or programs installed in the system. For PCs with Java programming
tools already installed, only step three will need to be carried out.
The JDK bundle comprises some programming tools and the Java Runtime Environ-
ment (JRE). The latter consists of the Java Virtual Machine and class libraries that will be
used in a production environment. The programming tools include the following primary
components:

• Javac, for converting a Java source code to a Java bytecode.

• Jar, for archiving related class libraries into a single JAR file.

• Javadoc, for generating documentation from source code comments.

• Jdb, the debugger.

A number of sample programs are also included in the JDK bundle.
The JCreator IDE serves to aid programmer in developing and running programs. It
consists of a source code editor, a compiler, some build automation tools and a debugger.
The JCreator IDE is for programming in Java (and Java3D) and will enable compiling,
debugging and the running of Java programs using the appropriate menu options.
Perhaps most importantly, the Java3D API provides the tools needed for programming
in Java3D and running 3D-programs. This API is basically an extension of the JDK bundle,
and the downloaded files will simply be added to the appropriate .bin and .lib folders in the
JRE that was created when the JDK bundle was installed onto the system.
Lastly, all these software are freely available from http://java.sun.com/.