Given the amount of press Java garners, you’d think that every programmer is busily building Java applications. The reality is that many programmers have yet to give Java a try. If you’re one of those programmers, Robocode might just be the project you need to jump into Java.
Given the amount of press Java garners, you’d think that every programmer is busily building Java applications. The reality is that many programmers have yet to give Java a try. If you’re one of those programmers, Robocode might just be the project you need to jump into Java.
Ready to Rumble
IBM’s Robocode draws its inspiration from two popular pastimes: writing computer games to learn to program, and watching Junkyard Wars, Battle Bots, and similar machine vs. machine competitions. Robocode is a Java-based framework for building intelligent robots that maneuver around a virtual battlefield and attempt to destroy each other (or at least stay alive).
Figure One: A robot
While battling bots is a lot of fun, the real purpose of Robocode is to provide an approachable and fun way to learn how to program in Java. Rather than building yet another database front-end or middleware component, Robocode lets you build the brains of a virtual robot and endow it with as much intelligence as you can. Each robot is equipped with an independentally-controlled radar and gun (shown in Figure One), and is capable of turning, moving forward, and moving backward.
Once you’ve programmed your robot, you can test it against some of the pre-fabricated robots that come…
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