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Java Applet for Teaching Influence Line Analysis

Kamal B. Rojiani 1 and Robert Schottler2 1 Charles E. Via Dept. of Civil Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 2 Mountain Enterprises, Shepherdstown, WV

Introduction Educational institutions have come to realize the importance of interactive learning and a multitude of interactive educational software is now available, The Internet has become an integral part of education, providing an excellent environment for hosting interactive learning. The development of the World Wide Web (WWW) has led to unprecedented growth in access to information over the Internet. The web offers many advantages including ease of use, quick access and low cost. An important advantage of the web is global accessibility. Web documents are accessible from any computer connected to the Internet. The web-based learning environment is flexible in that it allows students to control their own learning pace. A major disadvantage of the web was that most documents on the web use the HyperText Markup Language (HTML). HTML documents consist mainly of text with graphics and are effective for one-way distribution of information but are static and insufficient for providing an interactive environment essential for learning.

Some of the technologies for delivering interactive content on the web include Common Gateway Interface, JavaScript, Visual Basic Script, Shockwave, QuickTime and Java. The most exciting of these is the Java programming language developed by Sun Microsystems. Java is an object-oriented language modeled after the popular C++ programming language. It has all of the benefits of other object-oriented programming languages such as reusability of code, extensibility, encapsulation and inheritance. Although the syntax and structure of Java is similar to C++, many of the complex elements of C++ that have caused programmers difficulty or have been a source of frequent bugs have been removed or streamlined. The most important reason why Java is so well suited for use on the Internet is that it is platform and operating system independent - both at the source and the binary level. In addition to its platform independent features, Java has several other features that enhance portability. Unlike C++, in which the sizes of the fundamental data types are implementation dependent, Java specifies the same standard sizes for the fundamental data types regardless of hardware. Thus, it is not necessary to produce multiple versions of an application. The same code can be downloaded over the network and executed on any machine that has a Java capable browser. Java also has a powerful set of class libraries with provide much of the functionality needed to develop applications. Java applications can be embedded in HTML (web) documents where they are called applets. With Java it is now possible to write highly interactive graphical applications that are platform independent and are delivered over the web.

Influence Lines Many structures are subjected to moving loads. Examples of such structures include highway and railway bridges, industrial buildings with overhead traveling cranes, and frames supporting conveyers. The internal forces in these structures vary not only with the magnitude of the loads but also with the

Proceedings of the 2002 American Society of Engineering Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2002, American Society of Engineering Education

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Rojiani, K. (2002, June), Java Applet For Teaching Influence Line Analysis Paper presented at 2002 Annual Conference, Montreal, Canada. 10.18260/1-2--10564