Java2D versus Java3D

• To: m huang <qomo@xxxxxxxxx>
• Subject: Java2D versus Java3D
• From: Bill Hibbard <hibbard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
• Date: Wed, 04 Dec 2002 08:30:42 -0600

Hi Maohai,

_From some of your questions, I gather that you are using
Java2D (DisplayImplJ2D) rather than Java3D (DisplayImplJ3D).

I recommend Java3D, even for purely 2-D graphics. It has
better performance for user interactions, including 2-D
panning and zooming. Much better in some cases. Furthermore,
Java3D's texture mapping provides a reasonable way to render
images remapped to non-rectangles, where Java2D does not
(DisplayImplJ2D emulates texture mapping as lots of little
triangles, with miserable performance).

Good 3-D graphics are becoming so cheap and ubiquitous
that there is really no reason not to use them, even for
2-D graphics. This is especially true for projects like
yours aimed at 2007 and beyond.

Cheers,
Bill

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