Description

We start this article by asking: Does Java have a role to play in the world of numerical computing? We strongly believe so. Java has too much to offer to be ignored. First of all, Java is portable at both the source and object format levels. The source format for Java is the text in a .java file. The object format is the bytecode in a .class file. Either type of file is expected to behave the same on any computer with the appropriate Java compiler and Java virtual machine. Second, Java code is safe to the host computer.
Programs (more specifically, applets) can be executed in a sandbox environment that prevents them from doing any operation (such as writing to a file or opening a socket) which they are not authorized to do. The combination of portability and safety opens the way..