Michael Birken

The function pointer, a powerful concept in the C and C++ programming languages, has no direct equivalent in Java. No syntax exists to pass the address of a method to a JButton, for instance, that links it with pressing the button. Instead, Java promotes the use of anonymous inner classes, like this one: okButton.addActionListener(new ActionListener() { public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) { startProcessing(); } }); Back in October 1996, in an attempt to eliminate the need for this bloated syntax, Microsoft introduced an object-oriented method pointer into J++ called a "delegate." Sun Microsystems, citing the delegate as language pollution, sued Microsoft a year later for violating its Java license agreement. The lawsuit successfully maintained the purity of Java,... (more)

Coding with Java Swing

Even for many seasoned developers, Swing code can be notoriously difficult to organize. Where is the right place to put parsing and validation logic? How do you prevent those threading issues that cause lockups or repainting glitches? Is it possible to unit test GUI logic? Can the code somehow be shared with other user-interfaces, like a web front-end? If these questions sound familiar, ... (more)

Meat Fighter

If you have a bounty of creative energy and way too much time on your hands, why not explore the new Java 1.4 APIs by creating a video game. That's exactly what I did when I produced a parody of Street Fighter II called Meat Fighter (see Figure 1). "Meat Fighter" is a side-scrolling one-to-one fighting game featuring anthropomorphic hot dogs and sausages. You can choose from six possible ... (more)

Delegates Reloaded: Walking the Path

The function pointer, a powerful concept in the C and C++ programming languages, has no direct equivalent in Java. No syntax exists to pass the address of a method to a JButton, for instance, that links it with pressing the button. Instead, Java promotes the use of anonymous inner classes, like this one: okButton.addActionListener(new ActionListener() { public void actionPerformed(Action... (more)