This map viewer is an "Applet" written in Sun Microsystems' new Java programming language. Java is a simple, robust, high-performance, object-oriented language which is essentially platform-independent. Programs written in Java are compiled into very small bytecode files which are loaded over the Internet using the HTTP protocol which underlies the World Wide Web. These files are executed by your Web Browser in a secure fashion. For more information, visit Sun's Java site at http://java.sun.com/