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Sun Microsystems first released the 2D graphics framework, Java 2D with the Java 2 SDK, version 1.2. The graphics framework that Java 2D provides is much more powerful than the limited set of features offered by the JDK 1.1. For example, Java 2D includes support for creating arbitrary shapes, text, and images and provides a uniform mechanism for performing transformations, such as rotation and scaling, on these objects. However, these new features required more code to implement them and extra data to be stored for their operations, both of which caused additional overhead between the calls to the API and the rendering of pixels, all culminating in a performance degradation compared to the JDK 1.1. Another factor contributing to the performance degradation is that the hardware acceleration available in the JDK 1.1 was no longer accessible when using the SDK, version 1.2 because offscreen images were moved into software memory for the purpose of cross-platform consistency.
The Java 2D Application Programming Interface (API) provides a powerful, flexible framework for using device- and resolution-independent graphics in Java programs. The Java 2D API extends the graphics and imaging classes defined by java.awt, while maintaining compatibility for existing programs. The Java 2D API enables developers to easily incorporate high-quality 2D graphics, text, and images in Java applications and applets.
End users expect to be able to print to printers attached to local machines or to the network itself. The applets and applications they use may run in concert with a browser or directly on top of an operating system itsel
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