A. Getting started with Java/HotJava:
availability, latest releases, ports, downloading, installing,
JavaScript
B. Getting information and staying in touch:
the Java name, documentation of all sorts, newsgroups,
mailing lists, Java courses, bug reports
C. Java-enabled Netscape:
which versions, alpha/beta applets
D. Marketing, licensing, and planning:
licensing, logos, plans
E. Troubleshooting:
error messages, firewalls, environment variables,
overloaded server
We try to make as much information as possible available through our web site, http://java.sun.com/, and through mirror sites (see http://java.sun.com/mirrors.html for details). If you have trouble finding the information you need there, please let us know.
A1. What releases are currently available? What do they contain?
A2. What platforms is the 1.0.1 JDK available on?
A3. What platforms is 1.0 Alpha 3 HotJava available on?
A4. What about a version for my favorite platform XYZ? When can I get it?
A5. How do I download Java, HotJava, and/or JDK? How do I install it?
A6. How can I get started with programming in Java?
A7. Do I need special server software to use applets?
A8. Is JavaScript available? How do I find out more about it?
A1. What releases are currently available? What do they contain?
The current Java release is JDK 1.0.1 and the current HotJava release is 1.0 Alpha 3. You should always work with the latest version that's available for your platform.
The 1.0.1 release, including Macintosh Beta 1, of the Java Developers Kit (JDK) contains:
The 1.0 Alpha 3 release of HotJava contains
Note that the Java Applet API changed between the Alpha and Beta releases, and the two releases are incompatible. To run Beta or 1.0.1 Java applets, use Netscape Navigator 2.0 or other browsers that support Beta or final Java applets. HotJava currently requires alpha Java applets.
A2. What platforms is the 1.0.1 JDK available on?
The 1.0.1 JDK is available on Windows NT/95 (Intel x86) and on SPARC Solaris (2.3 or higher). For details, see:
http://java.sun.com/devcorner.html
The 1.0 Beta 1 JDK is available on Macintosh 7.5. For details, see:
http://java.sun.com/JDK-1.0/Mac-Beta1/index.html#Downloading
A3. What platforms is 1.0 Alpha 3 HotJava available on?
Alpha 3 HotJava is available on Windows NT/95 (Intel x86) and on SPARC Solaris (2.3 or higher). For details, see:
http://java.sun.com/installation-alpha3-win32-x86.html
http://java.sun.com/installation-alpha3-solaris2-sparc.html
A4. What about a version for my favorite platform XYZ? When can I get it?
These are extremely popular questions, and important ones. What we can currently say is:
Amiga, Linux, NeXT, OS/2, Windows 3.1, Windows 32s, ...:
We've provided our Solaris source code to make third-party
ports like these possible, but we are not officially overseeing
or tracking them. For more information, you can check out
platform-specific mailing lists:
http://java.sun.com/Mail/external_lists.html.
When we further have dates that we can announce, we'll post them on our web site.
A5. How do I download Java, HotJava, and/or JDK? How do I install it?
You can get our releases either with a World-Wide Web (WWW) browser or by anonymous ftp. For details, including installation instructions, visit the URLs indicated in questions <A2> and <A3>. If you use ftp, remember to set binary mode and check that you got the full file (compare its size to that mentioned in the installation page).
A6. How can I get started with programming in Java?
We've put together a guide for using materials on our web site to get you started learning Java; see
http://java.sun.com/starter.html
A7. Do I need special server software to use applets?
No. Java applets may be served by any HTTP server. On the server side they are handled the same as any other file, such as a text, image, or sound file. All the special action happens when the applet class files are interpreted on the client side by a Java-enabled browser, such as HotJava or Netscape 2.0.
A8. Is JavaScript available? How do I find out more about it?
The initial version of JavaScript is available in current releases of Netscape Navigator 2.0. For more information, including a pointer to the full press release, see Netscape in our Who's Licensing Java? page:
http://java.sun.com/licensees.html
B1. Where did the Java name come from? What does it stand for?
B2. Can the Java team keep me informed of latest developments?
B3. What newsgroups carry information about Java and HotJava?
B4. What mailing lists are available? How do I subscribe/unsubscribe?
B5. What documentation is available? In what formats? How can I get it?
B6. Can you send me information by regular mail or by email?
B7. Why do the mailing list archives stop at August 20th?
B8. Can I be a alpha/beta/xxx tester?
B9. Are Java programming courses available? Where? At what price?
B10. How do I file bug reports or feature suggestions?
B1. Where did the Java name come from? What does it stand for?
The name was chosen during one of several brainstorming sessions held by the Java team. We were aiming to come up with a name that evoked the essence of the technology -- liveliness, animation, speed, interactivity, and more. "Java" was chosen from among many, many suggestions. The name is not an acronym, but rather a reminder of that hot, aromatic stuff that many programmers like to drink lots of.
B2. Can the Java team keep me informed of latest developments?
We no longer keep a list of people to inform; when we started that, we never expected that so many people would be writing to us every day! If you'd like to keep informed, the best way is to visit our web site
http://java.sun.com/
periodically and participate in the Java-related newsgroups. Note in particular that our What's New page
http://java.sun.com/new.html
provides an overview of the most recent developments, press releases, and so on concerning Java and HotJava.
B3. What newsgroups carry information about Java and HotJava?
Two newsgroups are currently available:
Note that not all news servers carry alt.* newsgroups, but the comp.lang.java should be available pretty much everywhere.
B4. What mailing lists are available? How do I subscribe/unsubscribe?
Information about our mailing lists is available at
http://java.sun.com/mail.html
Note that these lists are now obsolete -- they have served their main purpose of fostering communication about Java and HotJava until newsgroups were available to carry the load. We request your cooperation in using them only as a last resort. This will help reduce the load on java.sun.com, and will improve service for everyone. All mailing list mail will be gated to the newsgroups, so you won't miss anything.
B5. What documentation is available? In what formats? How can I get it?
We provide a wide range of documentation (white papers, API specifications, programmer's guide, and more), reachable from our documentation page:
http://java.sun.com/doc/programmer.html
Most of our documents are available in both HTML and PostScript formats.
B6. Can you send me information by regular mail or by email?
Sorry, but we're only set up to distribute information through our web site (http://java.sun.com/) and ftp site (java.sun.com). We want to get as much information out and available as possible, but we can only handle the volume via these customer-initiated mechanisms.
B7. Why do the mailing list archives stop at August 20th?
Unfortunately, we've had to stop updating our mailing list archives, as we wrestle with the ever-increasing load on our java.sun.com server. Note that only archiving was stopped, not the mailing lists themselves.
B8. Can I be a alpha/beta/xxx tester?
Yes, that's essentially what you're doing when you use our current release software and send in bug reports. We generally don't have separate formal programs for early-release testing.
B9. Are Java programming courses available? Where? At what price?
SunService will be providing Java Programming courses at sites around the world; see
http://www.sun.com/sunservice/suned/
B10. How do I file bug reports or feature suggestions?
See instructions on our bug report page:
http://java.sun.com/GettingInTouch/BugReport.html
Then send bug reports and feature suggestions to:
java-bugs@java.sun.com
We will not be able to acknowledge each report individually. Please accept our gratitude in advance -- your feedback is crucial to our work.
C1. Can all Netscape 2.0 versions run Java applets?
C2. Can Java-enabled Netscape run alpha and beta Java applets?
C3. Can you help me with using Java in Netscape?
C1. Can all Netscape 2.0 versions run Java applets?
Netscape 2.0 supports Java applets on many but not all platforms. See the release notes for your platform at
http://home.netscape.com/eng/mozilla/2.0/relnotes/
C2. Can Java-enabled Netscape run alpha and beta Java applets?
Java-enabled versions of Netscape 2.0 will only run beta and 1.0.1 applets, which can be written with the 1.0.1 Java Developers Kit (JDK). Be aware that there are many web pages with alpha applets, which Netscape 2.0 will not handle. You can distinguish between alpha and beta applets by looking at the html source for a page: alpha applets use the <app> tag, whereas beta applets use the <applet> tag.
C3. Can you help me with using Java in Netscape?
For questions that specifically concern installation, troubleshooting, feature availability, and how to do XYZ with applets in the Netscape browser, it's best to ask Netscape directly. For instance, to report Netscape bugs, you can use
http://home.mcom.com/assist/support/client/
D1. Is Java/HotJava free? Where can I get information on licensing?
D2. Can I use the HotJava logo?
D3. What are your plans for XXX functionality? Why haven't you done YYY?
D4. Can you comment on company ZZZ's plans for licensing and using Java/HotJava?
D5. How can I invest in Java on the stock market?
D1. Is Java/HotJava free? Where can I get information on licensing?
We have guidelines on our web site for using and/or licensing Java and HotJava technology; see
http://java.sun.com/license.html
If you have further commercial or licensing questions, you can send them to
licensing@java.sun.com
Note that any licensing questions sent to java@java.sun.com will be forwarded to the licensing address.
D2. Can I use the HotJava logo?
Sun does not authorize the use of the Java, HotJava, and Duke logos. For more information about this and other special developer logos, please see:
http://java.sun.com/trademarks.html
D3. What are your plans for XXX functionality? Why haven't you done YYY?
We welcome all input regarding Java and HotJava -- we will read and consider it. We're keeping many more options in mind than appear in our current releases. However, because we are focusing on moving towards our next release, we have time to answer only a small portion of such questions.
D4. Can you comment on company ZZZ's plans for licensing and using Java/HotJava?
No, we need to let other companies speak for themselves. We can only refer you to official press releases. For pointers to recent press releases, see our What's New page:
http://java.sun.com/new.html
D5. How can I invest in Java on the stock market?
Java technology is a product of Sun Microsystems, Inc., which is traded on NASDAQ under the symbol SUNW.
E1. Error: net.SocketException: errno = 10047 (Windows NT/95)
E2. Error: hotjava-alpha3-win32-x86 is not a valid Windows NT application.
E3. Error: This program does not run in MS-DOS mode.
E4. Error: Failed to get: XXX Reason is: net.SocketException: connect
E5. The tar/zip/xxx file I got from your server seems corrupted -- is it?
E6. Is my firewall preventing HotJava from making connections?
E7. Why doesn't mail or netnews from HotJava work? (Windows NT/95)
E8. Why do http and ftp requests to java.sun.com sometimes fail?
E9. Will Java/HotJava work with DOS file size limitations (8.3)?
E10. Why are some menu entries in HotJava grayed out (and unusable)?
E11. javac: Superclass java.applet.Applet of class HelloWorld not found.
E12. 404 Not Found -- The requested URL /cgi-bin/src-form.sh was not ...
E13. How do I stop the copyright notice from appearing every time I start the Windows NT/95 version of appletviewer?
E1. Error: net.SocketException: errno = 10047 (Windows NT/95)
Error number 10047 usually means you are using unsupported TCP/IP drivers. Alpha 3 HotJava only supports the Microsoft TCP/IP drivers included with Windows 95. If you are using third-party drivers (e.g., Trumpet Winsock or PC NFS), you'll need to change over to the native 32-bit Microsoft TCP/IP drivers.
E2. Error: hotjava-alpha3-win32-x86 is not a valid Windows NT application.
There's a good chance you downloaded the binary file in ASCII mode, which will corrupt it. Check the size of your file against the size shown in the installation page or in the ftp directory listing. (To check the size using ftp: use ftp to connect to java.sun.com, log in as user "anonymous", cd to the docs directory, and then use the "dir" command to get a full listing of the directory, complete with file sizes.) If the sizes don't match -- especially if yours is bigger than it should be -- that's a sure sign that you need to download a fresh copy (in binary mode).
E3. Error: This program does not run in MS-DOS mode.
See <E2> above.
E4. Error: Failed to get: XXX Reason is: net.SocketException: connect
One fairly common cause of this error message is setting your firewall proxy to a raw (numerical) IP address rather than a domain name address. The alpha 3 HotJava release only handles domain name addresses.
E5. The tar/zip/xxx file I got from your server seems corrupted -- is it?
See <E2> above.
E6. Is my firewall preventing HotJava from making connections?
It could be, especially if you haven't configured your proxy servers. Bring up the Options menu, select the Properties dialog, and fill in the hostname and port for the Firewall Proxy. (For Netscape users, these values should be the same as your HTTP proxy in Netscape.)
Another possibility is that you're going through a SOCKS firewall. If that's the case, HotJava's not going to work -- it doesn't implement that protocol yet.
E7. Why doesn't mail or netnews from HotJava work? (Windows NT/95)
This problem is usually fixed by setting the relevant environment variables at the MS-DOS prompt. Type
set mailhost=<your-mailhost-name>
set nntpserver=<your-server-name>
at the MS-DOS prompt and then start HotJava in that same DOS box. Having to use environment variables like this is clumsy and will be replaced in future versions.
E8. Why do http and ftp requests to java.sun.com sometimes fail?
Due to heavy demand for Java/HotJava, our java.sun.com server is often overloaded and can turn away requests or stop them partway. When you run into this, you can try again later, or you can try one of our mirror sites; see
http://java.sun.com/mirrors.html
But if our java.sun.com server is so busy that you can't even get the mirror page, here are a couple of the sites listed there:
Blackdown Organization:
http://www.blackdown.org/Java
ftp: www.blackdown.org in the /pub/Java directory
Dimension X (USA)
http://java.dnx.com/
ftp: java.dnx.com
E9. Will Java/HotJava work with DOS file size limitations (8.3)?
No, they rely on many files with longer names than the old DOS limits. Even if your drive allows long file names, be careful not to unzip your release package with WinZip, since this will truncate the file names to the old 8.3 DOS limits. Instead, extract the files from a DOS window, without WinZip, and make sure that the resulting files have their full (long) names.
E10. Why are some menu entries in HotJava grayed out (and unusable)?
These menu items are placeholders for functions to be placed in future versions of HotJava. There are no switches for turning them on or off; they are simply not available in the current release.
E11. javac: Superclass java.applet.Applet of class HelloWorld not found.
The examples in the programmer's guide have been updated to conform to the new applet API in our 1.0.1 Java Developers Kit (JDK). "Superclass not found" error messages are typical if you try to compile beta code with an alpha version of javac. The recommended fix is to download a copy of the JDK, and do all further development with that.
Another potential source of this error message is incorrect capitalization on either the file name or the class name in in the file. The Java system is case-sensitive, so a HelloWorld class is different from a helloWorld class, and so on.
E12. 404 Not Found -- The requested URL /cgi-bin/src-form.sh was not ...
Several mirror sites are not set up to handle source code forms, and this is the typical error message in that case. If you try the source code form at our primary Java web site here at Sun, it should work:
http://java.sun.com/source_form.html
If not even that works, the problem might be with a local HTTP proxy (one person has reported finding the trouble there).
The appletviewer looks for a .hotjava directory inside your home directory to determine whether you are starting it for the first time. If the directory is not found, the appletviewer will pop up the copyright notice. The workaround is to manually create the .hotjava directory in your home directory. The following paragraphs explain how to do this.
The appletviewer is written to recognize three MS-DOS environment variables for the location of a user home directory: it uses either HOME or the combination of HOMEDRIVE and HOMEPATH. Under Windows NT3.51, the HOMEDRIVE and HOMEPATH environment variables are set automatically. Under Windows 95, you will need to set the HOME environment variable to point to an existing directory.
Once your home directory is set, all you need to do for Windows NT3.51 is to create the .hotjava directory inside of it:
mkdir %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%\.hotjava
In Windows 95, the easiest method is to edit the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, adding the following line:
set HOME=C:\
Then save the file and reboot, so that the change to take effect. Once your computer has rebooted, open a DOS window and execute the following command:
mkdir %HOME%.hotjava
