Java 3D is a client−side Java application programming interface (API) developed at Sun Microsystems for rendering interactive 3D graphics using Java. Using Java 3D you will be able to develop richly interactive 3D applications, ranging from immersive games to scientific visualization applications. | About this book Java 3D is a client−side Java application programming interface (API) developed at Sun Microsystems for rendering interactive 3D graphics using Java. Using Java 3D you will be able to develop richly interactive 3D applications, ranging from immersive games to scientific visualization applications. Who should read it? Java 3D Programming is aimed at intermediate to experienced Java developers. Previous experience in graphics programming (OpenGL and Swing, for example) will be very useful, but it's not a prerequisite. No book stands alone and you should make good use of the many online resources and books listed in appendix B and the bibliography. Readers new to Java 3D should definitely download Sun's excellent (free) Java 3D tutorial. This book is intended to serve as a companion to the Sun API documentation and the Java 3D tutorial. How is it organized? The book has 18 chapters, plus three appendices and a bibliography. Each chapter is fairly self−contained or explicitly references related chapters, allowing you to focus quickly on relevant material for your problem at hand. I have ordered the material so that, if you were starting a project from scratch, progressing in the book would mirror the design questions you would face as you worked through your design study and development efforts. More commonly used material is, in general, closer to the beginning of the book. Chapter 1 focuses on getting started with Java 3D, system requirements, running the examples in the book, plus a look at the strengths and weaknesses of Java 3D. Chapter 2 introduces some of the fundamentals of 3D graphics programming, such as projection of points from 3D to 2D coordinates, lighting, and hidden surface removal. Chapter 3 gets you started with Java 3D programming, from setting up your development environment and resources to running your first application. Chapter 4 explains the fundamental data structure in Java 3D, the scenegraph. Aspects of good scenegraph design
