As you all know, there are allready several programming alternatives for the NXT. These include, for example, NXT-G, RobotC, NXC etc. One other option is leJOS, a Java object-oriented language built on top on TinyVM. As you can read in the following email I got from Brian Bagnall, one of leJOS developers, this new release starts taking shape into a mature firmware alternative for the LEGO and RobotC firmwares:

The latest version of leJOS NXJ is finally ready! For those who aren’t familiar with leJOS, it’s a full replacement firmware for the LEGO Mindstorms NXT brick that allows you to run Java programs on the NXT brick. leJOS NXJ works with Windows, Linux and Mac OS X (a dedicated Mac build is coming soon). Version 0.3 now includes some key features:

- A flash file system including implementations of java.io.File,
FileInputStream, and FileOutputStream.
- CompassPilot and CompassNavigator
- A menu system that supports executing and deleting programs, and LCP commands with NXJ extensions over USB and Bluetooth
- Java streams over Bluetooth and USB
- USB support
- Flash native methods
- Working flash build of leJOS NXJ
- Improved LCP support (LEGO Communication Protocol) including file commands
- Improved Bluetooth support including setting the NXT name
- A file explorer that runs on your PC
And much more…

Check out www.lejos.org for more information.

I hope these guys release some tutorials soon, since understanding how to use leJOS from the examples source and the API is somewhat challenging….