Developing Java applications for a nuclear fusion experiment: a test case for Java applicability in a demanding environment

The paper describes the experience gained in the development of Java applic ations in a nuclear fusion experiment. Two Java tools for graphical data di splay and experiment configuration set-up are presented as case studies. Ba sed on these tools, the results derived by the application of some metrics for object oriented software and by the analysis of the design patterns imp orted in the applications are presented to highlight the effective code reu se achieved with Java. The main issues in the applicability of Java in a de manding environment are then introduced and a few weaknesses of the languag e are finally discussed. (C) Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.