Welcome to the first CUJ Java Solutions supplement. CUJ, like all computer magazines, has had a fairly short relationship with Java. We published our first Java theme issue in January 1998. We followed it with a theme issue in January 1999, and added a bimonthly Java column, "import java.*," by longtime CUJ columnist Chuck Allison.
We have heard the inevitable protests against having Java in a C/C++ magazine, but overall our readers seem to accept it as relevant and worthwhile. Still, Java is a bit of a strange beast from a C/C++ perspective. It is just different enough to make us want to avoid running "pure Java" articles in the magazine proper. To date we have seen to it that all our Java articles tie back to C/C++ in some meaningful fashion.
Meanwhile our readers, industrious souls that they are, have been taking on more and more Java projects, but without facing the same restrictions we do. That is, they can write pure Java apps without worrying about whether they relate to C/C++. We sure hate to miss out on the fun!
Our solution is to provide this special supplement. Inside you'll find three "pure" Java articles. They are not for Java newbies. We assume you already know your way around. But we also assume that the bulk of your work is still in C or C++. Our goal is to provide an update to help you keep tabs on Java.
Naturally we would like to know what you think of this supplement. We may publish more of them in the future if readers show sufficient interest. We've set up a special website (www.cuj.com/java/) where you can give us feedback. Tell us whether the articles are useful, what we could have done better, or what other topics you wish we had covered. As an incentive to visit our website, we provide a page of links on the site (www.cuj.com/java/links.htm) to important Java resources, and a complete archive of Chuck Allison's "import java.*" column. See you there, and enjoy the supplement.
Marc Briand
Editor-in-Chief
C/C++ Users Journal