ABSTRACT
The greatest challenge that confronted the creators of the Java programming language was the implementation of a cross-platform Graphical User Interface. Windowing environments, such as MAC OS, X-Windows, and the various versions of Microsoft Windows, all have unique features. The creators of Java had to find the common elements in all platforms while ignoring the features that were exclusive of a particular one. In other words, they had to find the common graphics functionality, while making sure that Java virtual machines would accommodate the unavoidable differences. A task indeed!
