Introduction - Java Software Solutions: Foundations of Program Design - page 27

software development concepts, an important side effect will be to become pro-
ficient in the development of Java programs.
Java is a relatively new programming language as compared with many oth-
ers. It was initiated in 1991 by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems as one of his
many set-top box projects. The language initially was called Oak, then Green, and
ultimately Java. Java was introduced to the public in 1995 and has gained tre-
mendous popularity since. In 2010, Sun Microsystems was purchased by Oracle.
Java has undergone various changes since its creation. There are variations
of the Java Platform, including the Standard Edition, which is the mainstream
version of the language and the associated tools; the Enterprise Edition, which
includes extra libraries to support large-scale system development; and the Micro
Edition, which is specifically for developing software for portable devices such as
cell phones. This topic focuses on the Standard Edition.
Some parts of early Java technologies have been deprecated, which means they
are considered old-fashioned and should not be used. When it is important, we
point out deprecated elements and discuss their preferred alternatives.
One reason Java attracted some initial attention was because it was the first pro-
gramming language to deliberately embrace the concept of writing programs (called
applets) that can be executed using the Web. Since then, the techniques for creating
a Web page that has dynamic, functional capabilities have expanded dramatically.

Java is an object-oriented programming language. Objects are
the fundamental elements that make up a program. The principles
of object-oriented software development are the cornerstone of this
book. We explore object-oriented programming concepts later in
this chapter and throughout the rest of the topic.
The Java language is accompanied by a library of extra software that we can use
when developing programs. This software is referred to as the Java API , which stands
for Application Programmer Interface, or simply the standard class library. The Java API
provides the ability to create graphics, communicate over networks, and interact with
databases, among many other features. The Java API is huge and quite versatile. We
won't be able to cover all aspects of the library, though we will explore several of them.
Java is used in commercial environments all over the world. It is one of the
fastest growing programming technologies of all time. So not only is it a good
language in which to learn programming concepts, it is also a practical language
that will serve you well in the future.

KEY CONCEPT
This topic focuses on the principles
of object-oriented programming.

A Java Program
Let's look at a simple but complete Java program. The program in Listing 1.1
prints two sentences to the screen. This particular program prints a quote by
Abraham Lincoln. The output is shown below the program listing.