Concurrent and Real-Time Programming in Java (Repost)

Real-time systems have to respond to externally generated input stimuli within a finite and predictable time. Their correctness depends not only on the logical results of the computations, but also on the time at which those results are produced. When Java emerged as a serious programming language in 1994, it was treated with disdain by much of the real-time community. Although the language was interesting from a number of perspectives – not least the fact that it had an integrated concurrent object-oriented programming model – the whole notion of Java as a real-time programming language was laughable. "Java and Real-time" was considered, by many, an oxymoron. What we failed to appreciate was the determination of the Java community to propagate the language into every conceivable application area.