Java Reference
In-Depth Information
Java might be said more accurately to refer to a set of programming and
computing specifications. However, in this topic and the Web Course, unless
otherwise indicated, we follow the common use of the term Java to refer to the
high-level language that follows the official specifications and the virtual machine
platform on which the compiled language runs. The usage is normally clear from
the context.
Finally, many people know Java only from the applets that run in their web
browsers. Java programs, however, can also run as standalone programs just like
any other language. Such standalone programs are referred to as “applications”
to distinguish them from applets.
1.2 History of Java
During 1990, James Gosling, Bill Joy and others at Sun Microsystems began
developing a language called Oak. They primarily intended it as a language for
microprocessors embedded in consumer devices such as cable set-top boxes,
VCRs, and handheld computers (now known as personal data assistants or
PDAs).
To serve these goals, Oak needed the following features:
platform independence, since it must run on devices from multiple manufacturers
extreme reliability (can't expect consumers to reboot their VCRs!)
compactness, since embedded processors typically have limited memory
They also wanted a next-generation language that built on the strengths and
avoided the weaknesses of earlier languages. Such features would help the new
language provide more rapid software development and faster debugging.
By 1993 the interactive TV and PDA markets had failed to take off, but internet
and web activity began its upward zoom. So Sun shifted the target market to
internet applications and changed the name of the project to Java.
The portability of Java made it ideal for the Web, and in 1995 Sun's HotJava
browser appeared. Written in Java in only a few months, it illustrated the power of
applets - programs that run within a browser - and the ability of Java to accelerate
program development.
Riding atop the tidal wave of interest and publicity in the Internet, Java quickly
gained widespread recognition (some would say hype ), and expectations grew for
it to become the dominant software for browsers and perhaps even for desktop
programs. However, the early versions of Java did not possess the breadth and
depth of capabilities needed for desktop applications. For example, the graphics
in Java 1.0 appeared crude and clumsy compared with the graphics features
available in software written in C and other languages and targeted at a single
operating system.
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