Technologies used on online gambling sites
by Zhizhong Li, Outpost staff
Online gambling could not survive without the support of updated Internet technologies. Generally, online gambling sites are divided into three categories based on the types of technologies used.
1. Downloading software to a local hard drive.
|
Gamblers have to download the software first before they play at montecarlo.com. Photo by Zhizhong Li |
Some online gambling sites require gamblers to download a program onto a local computer before playing. Usually, the programs are free. These online gambling sites are always the most fun to play because, once installed, the programs offer great graphics, sound and animation.
But, the gamblers then have the program on their hard drive, which means they have to wait for the application to download from the Internet and install it on their computers. Once the software is installed on the hard drive, gamblers do not need to reinstall it if they want to play again. Another problem is the risk of downloading from the Internet. Although many online gambling sites offer safe Internet downloading, the risk of infection from a computer virus still exists. .
2. JAVA
|
Java Casino is a typical example of using Java programs. Photo by Zhizhong Li |
The second type of the online gambling site uses JAVA instead of downloadable programs.
JAVA is a full-featured and object-oriented programming language released to the public by Sun Microsystems in 1995.
JAVA is based on the C++ programming language and it is portable across platforms and operating systems.
JAVA lets programmers create special little programs known as applets, which are embedded directly into a HyperText Markup Language (HTML) document. (HTML is another computer language used for creating Web pages.)
On the online gambling sites that use JAVA, these JAVA applets run through the Internet browser. All of the JAVA gambling sites offer some petty good graphics, and some offer sound and animations.
One problem the JAVA gambling sites have is it may take longer to run the applets compared with downloading other simple HTML pages. Another problem is that applets may occasionally freeze the browser.
|
The Majestic International Casino offers great graphics by using HTML. Photo by Zhizhong Li |
3. HTML
HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is a computer language used to create Web pages.
The third kind of online gambling sites are those that use only HTML. These sites have two advantages. One is speed. They do not require any download time, and gamblers can enjoy fast game play. The other advantage is they have great graphics.
The disadvantage of this kind of gambling site is they do not offer sound and animation.
Posted May 1, 2000
Copyright 2000 Nevada Outpost
|
|
|
|
|
Nevada Outpost is produced by
students at the |
|
