Introduction to Java

What is Java, why java is used and where java is used?

History #

In Jan 1991, James Gosling, Mike Sheradin, and Patrick Naughton started developing a new programming language, which was completely system-independent. This language was initially called as Oak. Since the name was registered by some other company, later it was changed to JAVA. James Gosling and his team members were consuming a lot of coffee while developing this language, they felt that they were able to develop a better language because of the good quality coffee they consumed. so, they named the language after the place called “Java Island” from where the coffee was exported. Hence they named the language as java and thus the symbol for java language is cup and saucer.

Features Of Java #

Simple #

Java was aimed to be a simple language so that it can work on electronic devices, where less memory is available. The difficult concept of pointers was also omitted from the language to make it easier. JavaSoft team also maintained the syntax of C and C++ in java, so that a programmer who knows these languages will find java already familiar.

Object-Oriented #

Object-Oriented means java programs use objects and classes. In order to write a program in java, we need to write at least a class or an object. Purely object-oriented language should contain all the following 5 features:

• Classes and Objects
• Encapsulation
• Abstraction
• Inheritance
• Polymorphism

Distributed #

Using java, we can write programs, which capture information and distribute it to the clients, this is possible because java can handle protocols like TCP and UDP.

Robust #

Java programs are strong and don’t crash easily because of its excellent exception handling features.

System independent #

Java byte code can run on any machine with any processor and operating system hence, it is system independent.

Portability #

If the program yields the same results on every machine it is known as portable.

Secure #

Security problems like impersonation, tampering, virus, and eavesdropping are eliminated by using java on the internet.

Multi-Threaded #

Thread represents an individual process to execute a group of statements. JVM uses multi-threads to execute different blocks of code.

Scalability #

Java program can be implemented on a wide range of computers with varying levels of resources, this is possible because java is compact and platform-independent.

High Performance #

Java uses both interpreters and a just-in-time (JIT) compiler to convert byte code into machine code hence, its speed is faster and leads to high performance.

Java SDK Platforms #

Java SE #

It is the java standard edition that contains basic core java classes. This edition was used to develop standard applets and applications.

Java EE #

It is the java enterprise edition and contains classes that are beyond java SE. Java EE mainly concentrates on providing business solutions on a network.

Java ME #

It stands for java micro edition and this is for developers who develop code for portable devices such as cellular phones etc.