Recently we’ve made the push at TEL in Durham to make code relating to work developed in the SynergyNet project more accessible.  We have now started an effort to create guides for getting started on developing with our software.  This post details how to build a development platform for our multi-touch framework; SynergyNet.

SynergyNet is our Java based multi-touch interaction tool which utilises a large number of 3rd party libraries to facilitate additional features such as advanced network based communication.

There are two main flavours of SynergyNet available: 2.5 and 3.

While these two frameworks have the same basis and structure there are some differences.  You can find all the versions of SynergyNet with instructions here:

SynergyNet Repository

SynergyNet 2.5

2.5 consists of a single project and is geared towards application developers with all the classes necessary for creating applications and running the system kept separate from the bulk of the code relating to the framework.

SynergyNet 2 and 2.1 are also available on the SynergyNet repositories but both these versions of the framework are similar in structure and functionality to version 2.5.  SynergyNet 2.5 is recommended to anyone considering developing applications for the framework for the first time.

You can read more about how to setup this version of SynergyNet on the SynergyNet 2.5 wiki page.

SynergyNet 3

SynergyNet 3’s structure varies from 2.5 due to its use of multiple projects.  This version of the framework also depends on a seperate project called Multiplicity.  The project builds on earlier SynergyNet versions.  Multiplicity provides the multi-touch input management, content system and basic JME3-based application environment whereas SynergyNet 3 provides advanced features such as the networking (implemented using hazelcast) and web interfaces (implemented using GWT).  Both Multiplicity and SynergyNet 3 utilise multiple projects and use Maven to organise them.

SynergyNet 3’s application support is currently more complex than SynergyNet 2.5’s.  This, in addition to the need for additional software such as Maven and Openfire means that developers are advised to get to grips with an earlier version of the framework before attempting to develop for SynergyNet 3.

You can read more about how to setup this version of SynergyNet on the SynergyNet 3 wiki page.

Note: You may find developing with SynergyNet 3.1 easier. It offers the same features as SynergyNet 3 but with better documentation and less reliance on maven.