Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: MOTM

If the intent is for the PC side to be Java (which is smart as you can
get the same app running on PC and Mac) then Ethernet or MIDI is the
right choice for the target device. Java has built in support for
UDP/TCP sockets (Ethernet) and also has built in MIDI capabilities.
(However, I have no idea how good the Java MIDI class is so far as
"will it work with the specific MIDI interface hooked up to my PC"
issues.)

I know that talking to a regular old serial port from Java looks
painful. (Sun provides an optional serial communication class but
they only provide a system level driver for Solaris. For PC or Mac or
Linux you have to use this funky open source driver = confusing extra
stuff you have to figure out how to install and make work.) I think
the same would be true of USB from Java ∗unless∗ the target USB device
was made to look like a MIDI interface. (But again, I am not an
expert as to how well Java can see various MIDI devices.)

-seth