Mina

Networking & Multiplayer
#1

I am having some problems using this (http://directory.apache.org/subprojects/mina/index.html), and was wondering if anyone has the code for a simple client/server that can send and receive text.

Thanks.

EDIT: In the examples they show that you can take an IoSession and just write any object to it. When I try to do this, there is only one method. I have looked at all versions (0.8.0, 0.8.1 and 0.8.2) and it requires 2 arguments.
Also a lot of the methods and classes they use in the examples do not exist. I have tried all versions but it seems that they do not update things well or something. For example, they use a ConnectFuture that does not exist in the most recent version! It makes me wonder how they managed to write the example.

#2

From what I’ve read of MINA it’s incredibly slow. I’ll try to post a link to some benchmarks if I can find them again…

#3

Well I was going to use it because it scales well but if you can prove that it is slow…then I’ll try to figure something else out.

I think I will go with NIO.

Thank you

#4

I’m oft accused of pushing my own APIs, but have you considered using JGN?

http://javagamenetworking.dev.java.net

#5

I don’t think just me counts as “oft” - but I’d really like to see those performance benchmarks if you can find them.

Kev

#6

I am using MINA and am pretty happy with it ;D My game does not require real-time performance, so I cannot tell you if MINA is fast enough? “Seems” pretty fast. And yes, I would be interested to see these benchmarks as well! What the examples concerns, do not use the ones on the web. Download the MINA version you like. I currently use 0.9.4 but the 0.8.4 is the stable version. The examples come with the download - the ones on the web might be 0.9.5 or 0.8.4?

If you use MINA depends on your requirements. I don’t know sunsett’s API, so I cannot quite compare it - looks interesting? However, I would advice you NOT to use NIO directly, it’s just a pain, especially if you are dealing with very different type of packages you like to send over the network. NIO also forces you to deal with some really low-level networking details, especially ByteBuffer can drive you crazy …

Alright, here’s my take on MINA:
-pretty well maintained: new release/bugfix every 1-2 months (if you download it - don’t look at the examples on the web)
-easy to use, because it deals with all the low-level API calls
-easy to add encryption if you like
-use Input/OutputStreams to send/receive data -OR- use an enhanced=simplified ByteBuffer
-might be ok for real-time?

I wrote a little wrapper for MINA to write/read from Input/OutputStreams. I have a JUnit test case. I also implemented RSA and Triple-DES encryption which can be turned on if you desire. Let me know if you are interested in those files, writing a String should be pretty easy. Also, I am emulating the HTTP-protocol, which would allow you to send messages from/to a firewall. But as I said, if you are interested in real-time performance, you would have to test it first, if it satisfies your needs?

#7

Sorry about spouting off, now that I went back to look I think it was JGroups I was thinking of and here’s the benchmark I was looking at:

http://www.jgroups.org/javagroupsnew/perf/Report.html

So to clarify, I have no beef with Mina. :slight_smile:

However, I haven’t found any benchmarks for Mina. :-p

#8

But you still have beef with anyone not using JGN right? :stuck_out_tongue:

#9

No, if they aren’t smart enough to realize how much better than everything else it is what can I do? ;D

I hold no grudge. :wink: