From laptops to datacenters, game consoles to scientific supercomputers, cell phones to the Internet, Java is very ubiquitous. Initially, originating from California, Java, not unlike many of the technologies which influence our everyday lives to this very day.
It was founded under the purview of Sun Microsystems. A company founded in 1982 by Andreas Bechtolsheim, Vinod Khosla, and Scott McNeally. With that said, many tech-savvy tend to look more to the future than the past. And one thing for sure is embracing the features of this powerful software.
You don’t particularly want a history lesson. Do you? That’s if you find yourself more curious about the modern world of coding. Or even find yourself questioning just how influential Java has been to the world of technology. Why? Since there’s more to Java than you think.
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While you move about, you’re most likely looking at one of the most used modern software applicability. As well as one of the most influential computing tools. A technology that has continued to evolve consistently in order to keep up with the times.
Keeping in mind, more and more Java environments are created every day. So, denying yourself Java is akin to denying yourself access to technological infrastructure. At its core, it’s advertised and esteemed for its fast performance, security, and reliability.
What Is Java?
By definition, Java is a programming language, designed to be concurrent, class-based, and object-oriented. As well as a computing platform first released by Sun Microsystems in 1995. An enormous amount of applications and websites will not work unless you have Java installed.
In other words, it’s a programming language expressly designed for use in the distributed Internet environment of various types. It was designed to have the “look and feel” of the C++ programming language. But it’s simpler to use than C++ and enforces an object-oriented programming model.
Basically, Java can be used to create complete applications that may run on a single computer. Or even be distributed among servers and clients in a network. It can also be used to build a small application module. In addition to an Applet.
An Applet is simply a small designed application for use as part of a Web page. Not to mention, Applets are what make it possible for a Web page user to interact with the page. They are used to make the website look more dynamic and entertaining.
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In simple terms, an Applet is a Java program that can be embedded into a web page. It runs inside the web browser and works on the client-side. It’s embedded in an HTML page using the APPLET or OBJECT TAG and hosted on a web server.
It’s important to realize, all Applets are sub-classes (either directly or indirectly) of the java.applet.Applet class. But, Applets are also not stand-alone programs. Instead, they run within either a web browser or an applet viewer.
As an example, JDK provides a standard tool called Applet Viewer. Generally, the execution of the Applet does not begin at the main method(). While, at the same time, the output of the Applet window is not performed by System.out.println() too.
Rather it is handled with various AWT methods, such as drawString(). With that in mind, in this article, you can read and learn more about Java Applet in detail.
How Java Works — The Making of GUI Applications
Java was launched on 23rd January 1996 (named JDK 1.0). And at that time it only supported CUI (Character User Interface) application. But, in 1996 VB (Visual Basic) of Microsoft was preferred for GUI programming. More definition terms are provided below this article.
Surprisingly, the Java developers in hurry (i.e within 7 days) have given support for GUI from Operating System (OS). And now, the components like buttons are platform-dependent. Meaning, in each platform there are differently sized and shaped button.
Markedly, they did the intersection of such components from all platforms. And then, they gave a small library that contains these intersections. And it is all available in AWT (Abstract Window Toolkit) technology. Although it doesn’t have advanced features like dialogue box, etc.
Now to run Applet, Java needs a web browser like Google Chrome. In the beginning time, only Internet Explorer by Microsoft was readily available. But, as we know, Microsoft believes in monopoly. So, Sun Microsystems — the company behind Java development — had to contract another company known as Netscape.
Read About Netscape: The Web Browser that came back to haunt Microsoft
Netscape — now known as Mozilla Firefox today — is the development company behind JavaScript. And now, these two companies developed a technology called “SWING.” The main benefit is that the SWING Components are produced by Java itself.
Therefore, it is now platform-independent. Not to mention, some additional features have also been added which were not in the AWT technology initially. So, we can say that SWING is much more advanced as compared to AWT technology.
Java is the first substantial language that is neither truly interpreted nor compiled. Instead, it’s a combination of the two forms used. This method has advantages that were not present in earlier languages. For more understanding, in this article, you can read and learn more about how Java works in detail.
Why is Java so Popular?
Of course, the answer lies primarily with the exhaustive testing, updating, and consistency of delivery that it has historically provided. Since it has been tested, refined, extended, and proven by a dedicated community of its developers, architects, and enthusiasts.
Despite origins dating back almost two decades, it has consistently evolved over the years. Simply, because it’s designed to enable the development of portable, high-performance applications. And for the widest range of computing platforms possible.
Hence enabling the fundamental tenets of overarching accessibility as well as cross-platform interaction. While also, making applications available across heterogeneous environments. It’s also free to download the latest version at java.com.
All the above features allow businesses to provide more services and boost end-user productivity, communication, and collaboration. Thus, dramatically reducing the cost of ownership of both enterprise and consumer applications.
It has become invaluable to developers by enabling them to:
- Write Software on one platform and run it on virtually any other platform.
- Create Programs that can run within a web browser and access available web services.
- Develop Applications that are server-sided for online forums, stores, polls, HTML forms, etc.
- Combine Applications or services to create highly customized applications or services.
- Design Applications that are powerful and efficient enough for mobile phones.
- Create Applications that are resourceful for remote processors, microcontrollers, etc.
In addition, it also comes handy for wireless modules, sensors, gateways, consumer products, and practically any other electronic device (learn more).
The underlying principle that has enabled its success is the ability it offers its developers and coders. Consistently, in order to upgrade the model to be competitive to modern technological standards.
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Ideally, are you an individual seeking to pursue a career as a Java developer?
Well, I know for most beginner webmasters, this might appear far down the line — learning Java. But, sincerely, what I can say is that; this is a valuable measure. By which a potential Java developer might be judged. As a pro, you’ll get acquainted and familiar with many terms.
Such terms include DAO Patterns, MVC Patterns, JDBC Patterns, The Memory Model, Dependency Injection, Threading & Concurrency, etc. For more, in this article, you can see all it’s key features.
What’s More,
While the world of technology is constantly advancing, at what seems like a faster than ever pace, people, even coders, have an unfortunate tendency to forget about the origins. The underlying principles. The ideas that influenced an abundance of modern-day technology.
This is why Java is important- because not only does it continue to be a vital and invaluable programming language today, but it shaped the manner in which technology would unfold in the coming two decades, and continue to unfold for the unforeseeable future.
That said, in this article, you can see more details on learning about Java Technology as a beginner.
Which are the Key Uses of Java?
Eventually, it’s very easy for developers to write programs that employ popular software design patterns. More so, with the best practices using the various components found in Java EE.
For example, frameworks such as Apache Struts and JavaServer Faces all use a Java servlet. Especially, in order to implement the front controller design pattern for centralizing requests. A big part of its ecosystem is the large variety of open source and community built projects, software platforms, and APIs.
For example, the Apache Software Foundation hosts a variety of projects written using Java. Including simple logging frameworks for Java (SLF4J). As well as both Yarn Hadoop and Apache Hadoop processing frameworks.
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Not forgetting, Microservices development platforms, and other integration platforms. Java EE environments are cloud based too.
Whereby, developers can build, deploy, debug and monitor Java applications on Google Cloud at a scalable level. Whilst, in terms of mobile development, it’s commonly used as the programming language for Android applications.
Most specifically, it tends to be preferred by Android developers because of its various reasons. Such as its security, object-oriented paradigms, regularly updated and maintained feature sets. As well as the use of JVM and frameworks for networking, IO, and threading.
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Although it’s widely used, it still has fair criticisms. For one thing, its syntax is often criticized for being too verbose.
In response to this and other issues, several peripheral languages have emerged to address these issues. Including the Apache Groovy programming language. Also, due to the way Java references objects internally, complex and concurrent list-based operations slow the JVM.
Fortunately, the Scala Programming Language addresses many of the shortcomings of the Java language that reduce its ability to scale.
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Notably, on Aug. 10, 2010, Oracle launched the first of two lawsuits against Google. The second of which sought $8.8 billion in damage over the use of its programming language in the Android SDK.
In that case, Oracle alleged copyright infringement over its Java Software use. That Google’s implementation of various Java APIs used code copied directly from Oracle’s implementation. However, the litigation ended in May 2016 as both trials found in favor of Google.
Jurors decided that Android’s use of its APIs constituted fair use and awarded no damages to Oracle. In other news, as of 2016, more than half of all handheld phones in the world run on Android APK. Giving this language an incredible stronghold in the smartphone market.
The Summary History of Java
In reality, the Internet and the World Wide Web started to emerge back in 1996. Originally, the Java design was not based to use the Internet. Instead, Sun Microsystems engineers envisioned small, appliance-sized, and interconnected devices.
These are tools that could communicate with each other. And as a result, the Java programming language paid more attention to the task of network programming than other competing languages.
At its core, through the java.net APIs, the programming language took large strides ahead. Particularly, in simplifying the traditionally difficult task of programming across a network. The first full increment of its use case occurred on Jan. 23, 1996.
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As of today, the well-known JavaBeans interface was first introduced in Java 1.1 back in February 1997.
Later on, other versions of Java released thereafter have received various nicknames. Such as the JDK 1.2 (being referred to as Java 2). It saw considerable improvements to API collections. While version 5 included significant changes to Java syntax through a new feature called Generics.
In October 2009, Google released the Android software developer’s kit (SDK). As a standard development kit that made it possible for mobile device developers to write applications for Android-based devices using Java APIs.
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Oracle Corp. took over the Java platform when it acquired Sun Microsystems in January 2010.
Unfortunately, the acquisition delayed the release of its version 7. But, Oracle scaled back some of the more ambitious plans for it. Version 8, released in March 2014, included Lambda Expressions.
Lambda Expressions are common features in many competing languages but had been absent in Java. With Lambda Expressions, developers can write applications using a functional approach. As opposed to an object-oriented one.
On the other hand, the release of version 10 was in March 2018. Followed by the version 11 release in September 2018. Later on, in March 2019, there was a release of version 12.
Key Terms Definition:
Finally, below are some of the definition terms to consider useful and relevant while reading this article. So, let’s go straight ahead and have a look at their general meaning:
1. CUI
It’s the short form for Character User Interface or Command-line User Interface. CUI is a way for users to interact with computer programs. It works by allowing the user (client) to issue commands as one or more lines of text (referred to as command lines) to a program (learn more).
2. GUI
A GUI (Graphical User Interface) is a system of interactive visual components for computer software. It displays objects that convey information, and represent actions that can be taken by the user. The objects change color, size, or visibility when the user interacts with them (learn more).
2. VB
As for VB, it is the short form of Visual Basic. It’s a third-generation event-driven programming language first released by Microsoft in 1991. VB evolved from the earlier DOS version called BASIC. BASIC means Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. Since then Microsoft has released many versions of Visual Basic (learn more).
Final Words,
Finally, Programming Languages and Computer Coding have made life simpler for us. Whether it’s automobiles, banks, home appliances, or hospitals, every aspect of our lives depends on codes. No wonder, coding is one of the core skills for most well-paying jobs today.
Coding skills are especially of value in the IT, data analytics, research, web designing, and engineering segments. So, which Programming Languages should you consider learning? How many languages should you know to pursue your dream career?
Well, the ever-growing list of programming languages and protocols can make it tough for programmers and developers to pick any one language. Particularly, that’s most suitable for their jobs or project at hand.
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Ideally, every programmer should have at least some knowledge of a language that’s close to the system — like C, Go, or C++. Object-oriented — like Java or Python. Or even a functional programming language — such as Scala. As well as a powerful scripting language — like Python and JavaScript.
Whether you are aiming at joining a Fortune 500 firm or desire to pursue a work-from-home career in programming, it’s important to know what’s hot in the industry. Whereas, you can start with it’s Programming & Frameworks Training for free.
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