Real-Time Java Programming for the Rest of Us

ava Real-Time System (Java RTS) is Sun's commercial implementation of the Real-Time Specification for Java (RTSJ), which defines real-time as "the ability to reliably and predictably respond to a real-world event." Implementations of the RTSJ make standard Java technology more deterministic and enable it to meet the rigorous timing requirements of mission-critical, real-time applications.

Java RTS, currently deployed in environments as varied as finance, control systems, manufacturing, and defense, provides an API set, semantic Java VM enhancements, and JVM-to-OS layer modifications, which allow Java developers to correctly reason about and control the temporal behavior of Java applications.

In Real-Time Java Programming, Sun real-time programming experts Eric Bruno and Greg Bollella drill down into the Java RTS and its APIs, while explaining the foundations of real-time programming in any RTSJ-compatible environment. They use analogies, descriptions, and visuals—as well as code examples—to speak directly to the average programmer.

"Chapter 1: Real-Time for the Rest of Us" provides a thorough definition of real-time systems and associated concepts such as predictability, jitter, latency, and determinism. The second half of this chapter contains a high-level discussion of real-time scheduling.

Read an excerpt of "Chapter 1: Real-Time for the Rest of Us" from Real-Time Java Programming.

Editor's Note: This chapter is an excerpt from the book, Real-Time Java Programming: With Java RTS, by Eric Bruno and Greg Bollella, published by Prentice Hall Professional, ISBN 0137142986, Copyright 2009 Sun Microsystems, Inc. For more info, please visit the publisher page: www.informit.com/title/0137142986.