What is JAVA

This article is about java. We already know that java is a high level programming language which is widely used language currently. In this article we discuss about java introduction its history, features and Java version history.

Introduction: What is Java?

Java is a high level programming language. It is a multi paradigm, object oriented, structured, concurrent, class based, imperative, functional, generic and reflective language. It was specially designed to have as less as implementation dependencies. It facilitate the developer to "write once, run anywhere" means if a code runs on one platform does not need to recompile to run on another. Java applications are compiled to byte code and can run on any java virtual machine regardless of computer architecture.

Java was originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems. He was a software lead and architect. The main objective of James Gosling to develop a suitable language for green project. First, he take C++ and writes its extensions but it was not sufficient that was the reason to create a new language java. Most of its syntaxes are derived from the language C and C++ but it contains fewer low level facilities than either of them.

James Gosling: Creator of Java

History of Java:

Java has a very interesting history. James Gosling, Mike Sheridan and Patrick Naughton are initiated to develop a language for digital devices such as set top box and interactive television. The basic aim of java development was to solve the problem of connecting household machine together. It was a very advance concept at that time but the project was unsuccessful because no one wanted to use it.

They initiated the java language project in June, 1991. It was originally designed for small, embedded systems in electronic appliance like set-top box. Firstly, it was called "Greentalk" by James Gosling and later named as "Oak".

Why is it named "Oak" :

Oak is national tree of many countries like USA, France, Germany, Romania etc. and it is a symbol of strength, besides this there was an Oak tree in front of the Gosling's office. It may be the reason behind its naming as Oak.

Why is it renamed as "Java" :

4 years later, Oak is renamed as "Java" on the name of Java coffee because a large quantity of coffee consumed by this language creators. There was also a reason to rename it because Oak was already a trademark of Oak technology and the team of the language creator want a name that is easy to spell and cool. There were many suggestions like "silk", "jolt", "DNA" etc. along with "java". At last, team has two options "silk" and "java" and they preferred java over silk. After all they were coffee lover.

Here you should remember that java is not an acronym, it is just a name. Java is an island in Indonesia which is famous for coffee production.

Today, Java not only spreads throughout internet, but also it is used in many applications and devices to enrich our living standards day by day. It is used in mobile phones, computer games, navigation systems, handheld systems as well as e-business solutions. It means no field is untouched by this technology, it is everywhere.

Main goals of java at the time of development:

When you start to develop any new thing, you have some parameters in your mind to develop the product in the same way you want. Java had following.:

1.It should be object oriented.

2.It should be platform independent means could be executed on multiple operating system.

3.It should support network programming.

4.It can be executed on remote source securely.

5.Easy to use.

Image of Duke: The Java mascot

Java Version History:

Since the date Java first version JDK 1.0 released in 1996, this language has undergone many changes. The latest version 8.0 released in 2014. Many changes and developments have been made in this language over these years.

The following table consist of all version of java SE from early days to latest.

In the above table, version 1.0 and 1.1 are named as JDK ( Java Development Kit). From version 1.2 to version 1.4, the platform is named as J2SE (Java 2 Standard Edition). After version 1.4, Sun introduces internal and external versions. Version 5.0 is the external version.

Hey friends,I think this article will helpful to our JAVA beginner readers.