Killer Game Programming in Java

Criticisms of Java 3D for Games Programming

The misconceptions and complaints about Java 3D closely match those used against Java, which we discussed in Chapter 1:

• Java 3D is too slow for games programming.

• Java 3D is too high-level.

• Java 3D isn't supported on games consoles, so why bother using it?

• No one uses Java 3D to write real games.

• Sun Microsystems isn't interested in supporting Java 3D.

Java 3D Is Too Slow for Games

This claim comes with almost no evidence. Jacob Marner did the only serious test (2002). Marner carried out comparative performance tests on OpenGL and Java 3D versions of the same 3D noninteractive space of randomly positioned, scaled and rotated boxes. He used the C++ and GL4Java bindings for OpenGL, and used Version 1.3.0 beta 1 of Java 3D. His master's thesis, Evaluating Java for Game Development, can be obtained from http://www.rolemaker.dk/articles/evaljava/.

The C++ version was fastest, the GL4Java implementation a little slower, and Java 3D about 2.5 times slower. However, the slowdown was due to a performance bug in that version of Java 3D and a poorly optimized scene graph. The timings haven't been repeated with the latest version of Java 3D or with more recent Java bindings to OpenGL such as JOGL or LWJGL.

Marner's code highlights some striking differences between Java 3D and OpenGL. The C++ and GL4Java programs are of comparable sizes (about 10 classes and 30 pages of code with documentation), but the Java 3D application is smaller (5 classes and 11 pages). ...