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http://developer.java.sun.com/developer/community/chat/JavaLive/2002/jl0423.html
Sun community chat on High Performance GUIs with the JFC/Swing, with Steve Wilson, Scott Violet, and Chet Haase (Page last updated April 2002, Added 2002-05-19, Author Edward Ort). Tips:

• [Some discussion of performance improvents in 1.4]
• Multi-threading with swing must be done correctly, using invokeAndWait() and invokeLater()
• Default models have performance limitations. Create dedicated models for high performance. Consider using a custom RepaintManager for very large tables.
• Don't use a MouseListener with a renderer
• BufferedImage is treated more optimally than MemoryImageSource
• Try using createImage(w,h), which returns an image in the same format as the screen, which allows faster copies from that image to the screen (important for copying speed issues).

http://portals.devx.com/Nokia/Article/6218
J2ME game building (Page last updated April 2002, Added 2002-05-19, Author Dale Crowley). Tips:

• J2ME device memory and speeds are very limited which affects everything from the data-loading speed to the frame/refresh rate, and seriously limits the ability to animate characters or otherwise rapidly change the screen.
• Smart graphics is important: you need to draw clear, concise images at extremely low resolutions and with very small palettes. Animated characters need dynamic, easily-read poses which avoid kicks looking like a dance steps, or punches looking like an arm waves.
• Use public variables in your classes, rather than using accessors. This is technically bad programming practice but it saves bytecode space.
• Be extra careful to place things in memory only when they are in use. For example, discard an introduction splash screen after display.
• Try to reduce the number of classes used. Combine classes into one if they vary only slightly in behavior. Every class adds size overheads.
• Remember that loading and installing applications into J2ME phones is a relatively slow process.

http://www.nature.com/Physics/Physics.taf?g=&file=/physics/highlights/6882-2.html&filetype=&_UserReference=C0A804EE46B4E669A2A54F7523EA3CC1CE04
Optimizing Searches via Rare Events (Page last updated April 2002, Added 2002-05-19, Authors ANDREA MONTANARI & RICCARDO ZECCHINA). Tips:

• Re-starting a search algorithm at random times can improve the average time required to reach the solution.

http://developer.java.sun.com/developer/JDCTechTips/2002/tt0507.html
File Channels, StackTraceElements, (Page last updated May 2002, Added 2002-05-19, Author Glen McCluskey). Tips:

• File Channels (from the 1.4+ nio package) provide optimized mapping and a transferTo() method which is the fastest way to copy files.
• StackTraceElement provides access to the stack from excception objects, useful for analyzing stack elements.

Jack Shirazi Back to newsletter 018 contents