An Introduction to Java and Program Design - Java Programming: Comprehensive Concepts and Techniques - page 3

Characteristics of Java
Java is the fastest growing programming language in the world, due in part
to the design team's successful effort to make the language parsimonious, robust,
secure, and portable. Computer professionals use the word parsimonious to
mean that a language has a compact set of commands without numerous
versions or adaptations of the same command. While new commands are
periodically added, the original Java commands will not change, meaning that
older Java programs still will run on newer versions of the software.
Java is an object-oriented programming language. Object-oriented
programming ( OOP ) is an approach to programming in which the data and the
code that operates on the data are packaged into a single unit called an object .A
software object represents real objects, such as a person or thing, or abstract
objects, such as a transaction or an event — for example, a mouse click. Object-
oriented design ( OOD ) is an approach to program design that identifies how
objects must interact with each other in order to solve a problem. You will learn
more about object-oriented programming (OOP) and object-oriented design
(OOD) later in this chapter and as you apply the concepts throughout this topic.
Being robust means that programmers can use Java to develop programs
that do not break easily or cause unexpected behaviors; and, if a program fails, it
does not corrupt data. Java thus is suitable for developing programs that are dis-
tributed over a network. Java is a strongly typed language , which means that it
checks for potential problems with different types of data — a big plus for
beginning programmers. Java is considered secure because its programs are easy
to protect from viruses and tampering.
A computer program is portable if it can be run on a variety of platforms
other than the one in which it was created, without requiring major rework. A
platform is the underlying hardware and software for a system. Java is portable
because it is platform-independent , which means that you can use Java to
write and run a program on many platforms, such as a PC running Windows or
Linux, an Apple running Mac OS, or a server running UNIX. Java is based on the
idea that the same program should run on many different kinds of computers,
PDAs, cellular phones, and other devices. From the time of its initial commercial
release in 1995, Java has grown in popularity and usage because of its true
portability.
The Java Software Development Kit (SDK)
In addition to being a programming language, Java also is a platform. The
Java platform, also known as the Java Software Development Kit ( SDK ), is a
programming environment that allows you to build a wide range of Java program
types. The Java SDK includes programming interfaces, programming tools, and
documentation. The Java SDK is described in more detail later in this chapter.
Java Program Types
The Java platform allows you to create programs and program components for a
variety of uses. Figure 1-1 on the next page illustrates the types of programs you
can create using the Java platform, including console applications, windowed