Java is an object-oriented programming language owned by Oracle, popular worldwide it was created 24 years ago on 23 May 1995, and currently, there are more than 3 billion devices that run JAVA. The latest version of Java is JAVA 18 (March 22, 2022).
Java is an open source and free software which is used to develop mobile applications, desktop applications, web applications, web servers and application servers, games, database connections, and a lot more of these. There are millions of developers around the globe which gives JAVA, huge community support.
It has a clear structure to programs which allows the codes to be reused that lowers the development cost. As C/C++ is close to JAVA that makes C/C++ or JAVA easy to learn for those who want to switch to JAVA or vice versa.
History
The project for the JAVA language was initiated in 1991 by James Gosling, Mike Sheridan, and Patrick Naughton. As the initial idea for designing JAVA was to make television interactive, but at that time the industry of digital television was not as advanced as JAVA.
Before naming it JAVA the initiators named it OAK as there was an Oak tree outside Gosling’s office then named Green and finally named after a coffee from Indonesia Java coffee and renamed JAVA. C/C++ is similar to JAVA because Gosling used C/C++-style syntax to make it familiar. The first public implementation was launched by Sun microsystems named JAVA 1.0 in 1996 and it promised WORA technology (Write once, run anywhere), that provides no-cost run-times on trending platforms.
Soon major web browsers incorporated within web pages to run JAVA applets, which turns out to be the best move and made it popular. Arthur Van Hoff rewrote JAVA 1.0 compiler by strictly compiling JAVA 1.0 language specification. With the arrival of JAVA2 as J2SE 1.2 in December (1998-1999), multiple configurations were built for different platforms in the new version. In the year 2006 Sun renamed the new J2 versions as Java EE, Java ME, and Java SE, for marketing purposes.
The Sun systems had few principles while the creation of the Java language as it has to be simple, object-oriented, and familiar. The language has to be robust and secure while being portable and architecture-neutral which executes with high performance. The language has to be threaded, dynamic, and interpreted.
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Features of Java
The Java language comes up with a variety of features every time it releases its new version. Here are a few major features that are in Java that make it easy to learn the language.
Platform Independent
When Java is compiled, just like any other programming language like C or C++, it compiles into platform-independent byte code instead of a platform-specific machine. Over the web the byte code is distributed and then interpreted by Java Virtual Machine (JVM) on any platform it is being run on.
Simple
As Java language is similar to C/C++ it is a bit easy to learn and if have mastered the OOP Java concept, then it will be easy for you to learn faster and easier.
Secure
Java provides a security feature that enables to development of virus-free, tamper-free systems. Based /on public-key encryption tells the authentication techniques.
Architecture-neutral
An architecture-neutral object file format is generated by the Java compiler, in this way the compiled code is executable on many processors, before the eyes of the Java runtime.
Portable
As Java is architecture neutral and the specification has no implementation-dependent aspects makes Java portable.
Robust
The effort by Java to eliminate error-prone situations by mainly focussing on compile time, runtime checking, and error checking.
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Multithreaded
To perform many tasks simultaneously, it is possible to write programs using the multithreaded feature. This feature allows the developers to build interactive applications that run smoothly.
Interpreted
Java byte code is not saved anywhere and is converted instantly to native machine instructions. Due to the progressive and lightweight nature of connecting, the development process is brisker and more analytical.
High Performance
Java enables high-performance features with the help of Just-in-time compilers.
Dynamic
Java is thought to be more dynamic than C or C++ since it was made to change with the environment. Run-time access to objects can be verified and resolved using the considerable run-time information that Java programs are capable of carrying.
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Applications of Java Language
Most of these applications are made through Java from computing platforms to enterprise servers and mobile phones. Here are a few of the applications mentioned below:
Desktop GUI Applications
With the help of APIs AWT, Swing, and Java FX we can build desktop applications that can be built quickly. Abstract Windowing Toolkit (AWT) is an interface that is being used to develop applications based on windows but not completely Java-based as the menu, button, list, etc uses window user interface functionalities.
Mobile Application of Java
A mobile application is a program designed specifically for smartphones and tablets. The vast majority of smartphones and other smart devices on the market now run the Android operating system, which cannot be developed without Java. The Java compiler converts Java classes into bytecode, which is then executed by the Dalvik Virtual Machine (DVM), an Android-specific virtual machine (VM), as the cause.
Embedded System
An embedded system sometimes referred to as an integrated system, is made up of many small computing components that work together to carry out specific tasks for the bigger systems. There are embedded systems everywhere. You don’t think so? Most people utilize them without realizing it. An embedded system, for instance, is used in a motor system, entertainment and multimedia in a car, E-commerce, wireless communication, mobile computing, and networking.
Web-based Applications of Java
A client-server program delivered on a web browser through the internet is called a web-applicant. With the aid of servlets, struts, JSP (Java Server Pages) and JSF (Java Server Faces), Spring, Hibernate, and web servers like Apache Tomcat, Apache HTTP web server, Resin, Adobe JRun, etc., Java allows the construction of web-applications.
Web Servers and Application Servers
A web server is a computer program that stores, processes, and responds to client requests sent over the World Wide Web using HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and other protocols (World Wide Web). A web server is a computer program that manages websites and sends users links to web pages. An application server (or app server) is a software framework that manages all operations between an organization’s client-end and back-end while storing the business logic for an application program. It is not only capable of performing HTTP but also a tonne of other things.
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Final Words
Honestly, Java is among the easiest to learn, easy-to-use, and most popular languages worldwide. The website we use, and the mobile applications are mostly Java language based and many beginners who want to do coding usually start with Java and then switch to any other languages.
Those who understand the OOP (Object Oriented Program) makes the learner easy to understand Java. Even I started my coding career with Java as a beginner or first timer. You would easily get your best teacher on YouTube and many other platforms to learn from the course. There are millions of developers around the globe which gives JAVA, huge community support. It has a clear structure to programs which allows the codes to be reused that lowers the development cost.