The SCADA and Fusion software have been developed by Controlstar System Ltd using Sun Microsystems Java programming language. The choice to use Java over of other programming languages came about for several reasons. These include the following.

• Java is a platform independent programming language. This means the same programme will run on both Microsoft Windows based and UNIX based machines. The programs are run through the Java Virtual Machine, which is found in both of these environments.

• Java can be used to create programs to run through a web-browser. With little modifications, a standalone program can be changed to run as an applet within a web-browser. This opens up the opportunities of creating a truly distributed system, with a central database held on a web server. This allows for several SCADA interfaces to be able to access the same data at one time, from different locations.

• Java provides a very comprehensive library of security features, allowing for the creation of very robust and secure applications.

• Java is also a true object-oriented language, allowing for the applications developed by Controlstar Systems Ltd to be tailored to the needs of the individual customers, without the need for a complete re-design of the core functionality.