Summary

Much has been detailed in this chapter regarding the viability of Java and its use in game development. Change is usually not welcomed by many, particularly programmers who are accustomed to old methodologies. In some ways Java’s best complement comes from the .NET transition. .NET has many similarities to Java and rightfully draws a number of the powerful aspects of the language into its own environment. For some game developers, Java will not represent the right fit in terms of performance goals. Despite some of Java’s limitations, it is difficult to argue with the importance of third-party platforms continuing to provide new choices and delivery models for game developers. Java is alive and well, but it needs good commercial-quality games to reach the flash point of widespread acceptance. The remainder of this book identifies the technological path by which to achieve these goals and deliver outstanding games. This path may be rough at times, but it does indeed come to an end. By reading this book, you have already taken the first step in the journey to create great games using Java.