[2817] in java-interest
Re: Progressive Execution of Java Applets
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Arthur van Hoff)
Mon Oct 16 14:44:51 1995
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 1995 09:50:20 -0700
From: Arthur.Vanhoff@Eng.Sun.COM (Arthur van Hoff)
To: glenn@ecto.curtin.edu.au
Cc: java-interest@java.Eng.Sun.COM
Hi Glenn,
> While looking at the Java Language I have begun to wonder how
> the browser handles the execution of the applet. I can see a great potential
> for a huge amount of different applications, especially in some of the areas
> we look at, in particular interactive multimedia. We create applications to
> allow students to move through a course at their own pace and to do this we
> supply simulations and and animations of costly and difficult lab experiments.
> However these simulations creep into the MB's and delivering a multimegabyte
> file to users in a distributed enviroment becomes impractical. Especially some
> are distance education students and connect via modems.
>
> Can a Java applet be coded so the process can begin with the minimal
> code allowing the student to start the program while the rest is loaded in
> the background? I realise that some waiting time is inevidable but all I am
> attempting to do is minimise this wait.
>
> An example of this, is a recent application which started with the
> student viewing an animation of muscle contraction. Then progressing to other
> animations of different related material. As well, reference and descriptive
> material are included. If a student could start work once the first animation
> was loaded then they could get some work done allowing the rest to load in
> the back ground. Is this possible? Have I missed an obvious solution? Is
> this documented somewhere?
Yes this is possible. You can fork a number of threads and have them start
downloading resources in the background. The more threads you create, the more
paralellism you will have. You may have to avoid doing this on modem connections
because they are quickly overloaded. Right now there aren't any real tools
to help you do this, you have to code it yourself in Java.
Have fun,
Arthur van Hoff
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