Dave HooverWhat is it? ----------- Getdown (yes, it's the funky stuff) aims to provide a system for downloading and installing a collection of files on a user's machine and upgrading those files as needed. Though just any collection of files would do, Getdown is mainly intended for the distribution and maintenance of the collection of files that make up an application. It was designed as a replacement for Java Web Start due to limitations in Java Web Start's architecture which are outlined in the rationale section. How does it work? ----------------- The main design and operation of Getdown is detailed on the design page: http://www.threerings.net/code/getdown/design.html You can also browse the javadoc documentation if you're interested in implementation details. How do I use it? ---------------- Tutorials for creating a sample project will be made available shortly. For now, check the examples on the design page (URL above) and post questions to the Game Gardens forums: http://forums.gamegardens.com/discussion/mvnforum/listthreads?forum=4 How do I compile it? -------------------- You will need to download the library dependencies which are enumerated in lib/LIBS. And then you can use Ant to build Getdown like so: % ant dist (builds the main jar file) % ant proguard (builds the dependency includede, deployment jar file) Is it free? ----------- Yes! Getdown is released under a BSD license. The most recent version should always be available here: http://www.threerings.net/code/getdown/ Where can I see it in action? ----------------------------- Getdown was originally written by developers at Three Rings Design for the deployment of their Java-based massively multiplayer game Puzzle Pirates. You can download and install Puzzle Pirates or Bang! Howdy to see Getdown in use in a production environment. Getting Getdown --------------- Getdown is available in source code form via Subversion: % svn checkout svn://code.threerings.net/getdown/trunk getdown Precompiled jar files are also available: * http://www.threerings.net/code/getdown/getdown/dist/getdown-pro.jar This version contains all dependencies and has been reduced in size using Proguard. You can stick this into a distribution that uses JDK 1.5 and use it directly. * http://www.threerings.net/code/getdown/getdown/dist/getdown-retro-pro.jar This version contains all dependencies and has been modified to be backwards compatible with JDK 1.4 using Retroweaver. You can stick this into a distribution that uses JDK 1.4 and use it directly. Getting Involved ---------------- Check the forums listed above, or send email to Michael Bayne <mdb@threerings.net>. Contributions and bug fixes are always welcome.