Java Introduction

Java Introduction

History of java:

Before starting to learn java,let us plunge into its history and see how the language oriented.In 1990,Sun Microsystems Inc.(US)has conceived a project to develop software for consumer electronic devices that could be controlled by a remote.This project was called Stealth Project but later its name was changed Green Project.

In January of 1991,Bill Joy ,James Gosling,Mike Sheradin,Patrick Naughton,and several others met in Aspen,Colorado to discuss this project.Mike Sheradin was to focus on business development;Patrick Naughton eas to begin to work on the graphics system;and James Gosling was to identify the proper programming language for the project.Gosling thought C and C++ could be used to develop the project.But the problem he faced with them is that they were system dependent languages and hence could not be used on various processors,which the electronic device might use.So he started developing a new language,which was completely system independent .This language was initiallky called oak.Since this name was registered y some other company,later it was changed to java.

By September of 1994,Naughton and Jonathan payne started writing WebRunner(a java based web browser),which was later renamed as Hotjava.By octobet 1994,Hot java as stable and was demonstrated to sun Executives.Hot java was the first browser,havingthe capabilities of executing applets,which are programs designed to run dynamically on internet.This time ,java’s potential in the context of the world wide web was recognized.

sun formally announced java and Hotjava at SunWorld conference in 1995.soon after,Netscape Inc.announced that it would incorporate java support in its browser Netscape Navigator.Later,Microsoft also announced that they would support java in their Internet Wxplorer Web browser,further solidifying java’s role in the world wide web.On January 23rd 1996,JDK 1.0 version was released.Today morethan 4 million developers use java and more than 1.75 billion devices run java.

Why the name Java?

James Gosling and his team members were consuming a lot of coffee while developing this language.They felt that they were able to develeop a better language because of the good quality coffee they consumed.So the coffee had its own role in developig this language and good quality coffee was exported to the entire world from a place called’java island’.Hence they fixed the name of the place for the language as Java.And the symbol for Java language is coffee cup and saucer.

What is Java?

Java is a programming language and a platform independent.

Platform independent:
Java is so popular is its platform independence, which means that Java programs can be run on many different types of computers. A Java program runs on any computer with a Java Runtime Environment, also known as a JRE, installed. A JRE is available for almost every type of computer — PCs running Windows, Macintosh computers, Unix or Linux computers, huge mainframe computers, and even cell phones.

Java is a high-level programming language developed by Sun Microsystems. It is purely object oriented programming language it is similar to c++.It was originally designed for developing programs for set-top boxes and handheld devices, but later became a popular choice for creating web applications.

Platform independent: Any hardware or software environment in which a program runs, known as a platform independent. Since Java has its own Runtime Environment (JRE) and API, it is called platform independent.

Where it is used?

According to Sun Microsystem, 3 billion devices run java. There are many devices where java is currently used. Some of them are as follows:

i.Desktop Applications (Ex:windows media player,antivirus etc..)
ii.Web Applications (Ex:all online Applications)
iii.Enterprise Applications (Ex:server applications,distribution applications etc..)
iv.Mobile Applications (Ex:wireless devices ,embedded controllers etc..)
v.games

Types of Java Applications:

1) Standalone Application

It is also known as desktop application or window-based application.A software that will executes in the context of a local machine are called as “Standalone Application”.

Ex:MS-office

2) Web Application

The application that executes in the context of a browser can we called as ” web based application”.The web based applications can we used for developing the client server applications.

Ex:all online applications

3) Mobile Application

An application that is created for mobile devices. Currently Android and Java ME are used for creating mobile applications.

Java Version History:

1. JDK Alpha and Beta (1995)

2. JDK 1.0 (January 23, 1996)

3. JDK 1.1 (February 19, 1997)

4. J2SE 1.2 (December 8, 1998)

5. J2SE 1.3 (May 8, 2000)

6. J2SE 1.4 (February 6, 2002)

7. J2SE 5.0 (September 30, 2004)

8. Java SE 6 (December 11, 2006)

i.Java 6 updates

9 .Java SE 7 (July 28, 2011)

i. Java 7 updates

Features of Java Language:

Every language provides some services or facilities so that they can be used in the application developed services are facilities can we called as features of that programming language.

The various features of Java language are:

1.Simple
2.Object-oriented
3.Distributed
4.Robust
5.Secured
6.Architecture neutral
7.Portable
8.Interpreted
9.High Performance
10.Multithreaded
11.Dynamic

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