
Metacomputing, or distributed processing on networks (local networks,
intranets, or the Internet), has re-emerged as a technology with
tremendous promise and potential, owing in part to the emergence of
the Java language and programming system. Java both
influences and is influenced by the requisite and dynamic aspects of
network programming. However, its viability as a programming language for
the scientific community is yet to be established. This paper describes
IceT, a novel framework for collaborative and high-performance
distributed computing which has been built upon a Java substrate. The
IceT system exploits the portability and scripting advantages of 
Java and incorporates well established distributed and concurrent computing
techniques into the framework, while retaining the ability to
access specialized processing capabilities and precompiled code.
The result is a dynamic and efficient distributed computing 
environment upon which data and processes are
highly portable amongst heterogeneous platforms and multiple users.
