Java Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 1
Java Programming
Introducing Java
Java is a programming language similar to C and C++. Its most characteris-
tic feature is that Java is a platform-independent language. This means that
Javaprogramswillrunonanymachinethatsupportsthelanguage.Theslo-
gan “write once, run anywhere” has often been used to describe and pro-
mote the Java language.
Incidentally...
Java is not without drawbacks, and platform-independency is more a
goal than a reality. Often Java programs must be modified before they
operate correctly in another system. This has led some critics to re-
write the Java slogan to say “write once, debug everywhere.”
Java was conceived by James Gosling, in the early 1990s, as a simple
and small language to be used in programming consumer electronic de-
vices, such as cellular phones and TV controllers. It was originally named
Oak. After a few years of vainly attempting to find a costumer for Oak
(also called Green), the design team renamed the language Java and in-
corporated it into the HotJava browser. HotJava could be used to down-
load and run small programs, called
applets
, from the web. Applets,
written in Java, provided a variety of animation and user-interaction fea-
tures that were not available in a conventional browser. In the summer of
1995, Sun Microsystems released Java as a programming language. It was
an instant success. In a few months Java became the preferred program-
ming language of the World Wide Web, and it still is. It also evolved into a
popular, general-purpose programming language.
