Transparent sharing of Java applets: a replicated approach

People interact together in all aspects of life and, as computers have become prevalent, users seek computer support for their interactions. The WWW provides an unprecedented opportunity for users to interact with each other, and the advent of JavaThfl has created a consistent computing environment to support synchronous collaboration. We describe JAMM, a prototype Java runtime environment that supports the shared use of existing Java applets, thus leveraging the existing base of software for synchronous collaboration. Our approach is based on a replicated architecture, where each user maintains their own copy of the Java applet, and the users’ input events are broadcast to each applet copy. We discuss solutions to certain key problems, such as unanticipated sharing, supporting late-joiners, and replicating input sources other than user inputs (e.g., files, sockets, and random number generators).

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