Introducing Java, The Third Generation Programming Language | History of Java | Brain Corner

Java is a popular third-generation programming language, which can be used to do any of the thousand of things that a computer software can do. With the features it offers, Java has become the language of choice for internet and intranet applications. Java plays an important role for the proper functioning of many-software based devices attatched to a network. The kind of functionality the Java offers, has contributed a lot towards the popularity of Java.

This post is going to talk about a brief history of Java, its important features, functionality, etc.

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'Java'

Java is both a programming language and a platform. Like any other programming language, we can use Java to write or create various types of computer applications. Thus, Java fits with the definition of a programming language. Java is also a platform for application development. The word platform generally is used to refer to some combination of hardware and system software e.g., operating system Windows NT on Intel Pentium IV or Windows NT on DEC Alphas or System 7.5 on PowerMacs, etc. The Java Platform is a new software platform different from many other platforms; it is designed to deliver and run highly interactive, dynamic and secure applications on networked computer systems.

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'History of Java'

Do you know that Java was not developed keeping in mind the World Wide Web? Originally, Java started as an elite project (codenamed Green) to find a way of allowing different electronic devices such as, TV-top boxes and controllers to use a common language. This language for electronic devices was originally named Oak but failed to find a niche despite its potential. But with the explosion of world wide web, Java rose to charts of popularity as it could cater to nearly all platforms. In the following lines, the history of Java can be found out in the Java timeline :

1991 ~ James Gosling Develops Oak (later renamed as Java) language for programming intelligent consumer electronic devices.

1993 ~ World Wide Web explodes.

1995 ~ Java formally announced. Incorporated into Netscape web browser.

1996 ~ Java Development Kit (JDK) 1.0 Ships. JavaBeans component architecture Corel Office for Java Preview. Sun announces JavaStation Network Computer. Sun announces 100% Pure Java initiative.

1997 ~ JDK 1.1 launched. Java Servlet API released.

1998 ~ Sun introduces Community Source "open" licensing. Sun produces a JDK 1.2 for Linux.

1999-2001 ~ JDK 1.3 released. JDK's also produced by IBM on multiple platforms. Java based Application Servers (BEA, IBM webSphere, etc.) become popular. J2EE (Java 2 Enterprise Edition), J2SE (Java 2 Standard Edition), J2ME (Java 2 Micro Edition) appear.

2002 ~ Java support for Web services officially released via the Java Web Services Developer Pack.

2004 ~ Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition 5 (Project Tiger) is released; The Java technology-powered Mars Rover (Spirit) touches down on Mars; Sun Java Studio Creator is launched.

2005 ~ Java technology celebrates its 10th birthday; Approximately 4.5 million developers use Java technology; Over 2.5 billion Java technology-enabled devices are available.

2006 ~ The NetBeans IDE 5.0 is released. Sun open-sourced Java EE components as the Glassfish Project to java.net. Java SE and ME initial components are released as open source.

2007 ~ Java technology is in more than 5.5 billion devices and is used by more than six million developers.

2008 ~ JavaFX 1.0 is released; At JavaOne, Neil Young announces his Archives Project to be released on Blu-ray Disc, powered by Java technology.

2009 ~ The NetBeans IDE is developer.com's 2009 Product of the Year.

2010 ~ Oracle acquires Sun Microsystems. The JCP approves Java 7 and Java 8 roadmaps.

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'Characteristics of Java'

Although Java has many and many Characteristics that amke it eligible for a powerful and popular language. In the following lines, we are going to discuss a few important Characteristics of Java.

• Write Once Run Anywhere (WORA) : The Java programs need to be written just once, which can be run on different platforms without making changes in the Java program. Only the Java interpreter is changed depending upon the platform.

• Light Weight Code : With Java, big and useful applications can also be created with very light code. No huge coding is required.

• Security : Java offers many security features to make its programs safe and secure.

• Built-in Graphics : Java offers many built-in graphics features and routines which can be used to make Java application more visual.

• Object-Oriented language : Java is object-oriented language, thereby, very near to real world.

• Supports Multimedia : Java is ideally suited for integration of video, audio, animation, and graphics in Internet environment.

• Platform Independent : Java is essentially platform independent. Change of platform does not affect the original Java program/application.

• Open Product : Java is an open product, freely available to all. However, there exist some special time-saving Java development kits, which can be availed by paying small amounts.

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'Types of Java Programs'

There are two types of Java programs, Internet applets and stand -alone applications.

• Internet Applets

Internet Applets are small programs that are embedded in web pages and are run on the viewer's machine in a secured manner (which means limited access to system resources i.e., the hard disk) by Java capable browsers.

Applets are designed to be deliverd to Internet Web browsers and that is why an applet has a built-in graphical window. But Java applets have some security restrictions (e.g., it cannot write to a local file).

• Stand-alone Applications

The second type of Java program, stand-alone applications, is much more interesting. It is generally a software application that does not require low level operating system or hardware access. Every stand-alone application of Java begins executing with a main method. You must be wondering what this main method is. Well, for this, I recommend you to read on the next post of this site.

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