3 Questions from a JAVA newbie

[jeebus4k]

Hi,

Just started coding in Java, I have a lot of experience in VB. I really really would appreciate if someone can point me towards the right direction !

I am developing a simple application which should be able to run in Windows (xp, Vista, 7.. 32 & 64 bit) and on mac too.

Here are a few question I have :-

1) Do I need to make multiple versions for each windows(xp, Vista, 7.. 32 & 64 bit ) & Mac ?

2) How do we make changes to registry any inbuilt in java ?

3) Make the application auto Updating

Any help is appreciated !

[sunde887]

1. no, java uses the jvm, so if the other system has a jvm the code will run on any platform(java is generally cross-platform) and a bit thing they used to tout was "write once, run anywhere" (or something similar to that)

2. I am not quite sure what you are asking, this might be a bit more than I know.

3. what do you mean auto updating?

[Eranga]

1) Do I need to make multiple versions for each windows(xp, Vista, 7.. 32 & 64 bit ) & Mac ?

Have you ever heard that "Write once, runs anywhere ...". That means Java is platform independent. In simple words you can run the same application on any OS. (But keep in mind that depends on the implementation too: refer my comments below)

2) How do we make changes to registry any inbuilt in java ?

Registry is Windows specific, not in UNIX or Mac. Still you can read the registry with Java, and there are many way to do that. But those applications cannot run on UNIX or Mac. So in such case best practice is to maintain your own configuration file. May be a simple text file.

3) Make the application auto Updating

Auto updating sense your application must look at a repository (a server may be) for new versions. You can download the newer version and replace it with the existing. If you could provide more details we can comment more.