History of Java

Java’s history is as interesting as it is impactful. The journey of this

powerful programming language began in 1991 when James Gosling, Mike
Sheridan, and Patrick Naughton, a team of engineers at Sun Microsystems known
as the “Green Team,” set out to create a new language initially called “Oak.” Oak was
later renamed Java, inspired by Java coffee, and was first publicly released in 1996
as Java 1.0. This initial version provided a no-cost runtime environment across popular
platforms, making it accessible to a broad audience. Arthur Van Hoff rewrote the Java
1.0 compiler to strictly comply with its specifications, ensuring its reliability and cross-
platform capabilities.
 Java evolved over time, with Java 2 introducing multiple configurations tailored
for different platforms, showcasing its versatility.
 In 1997, Sun Microsystems aimed to formalize Java through the ISO
standards body but eventually withdrew from the process.
 Despite not formalizing through ISO, Sun Microsystems offered most Java
implementations at no cost, earning revenue by licensing specialized products
such as the Java Enterprise System.
 A significant milestone in Java’s history occurred on November 13, 2006,
when Sun Microsystems released a large portion of the Java Virtual
Machine (JVM) as free, open-source software.
 By May 8, 2007, the core JVM code was fully available under open-source
distribution terms.
 Java was designed with core principles: simplicity, robustness, security, high
performance, portability, multi-threading, and dynamic interpretation. These
principles have made Java a preferred language for various applications,
including mobile devices, internet programming, gaming, and e-business.
 Today, Java continues to be a cornerstone of modern software development,
widely used across industries and platforms.
If you want to know more, must read – The Complete History of Java Programming
Language
Key Features of Java
1. Platform Independent
Compiler converts source code to byte code and then the JVM executes the bytecode
generated by the compiler. This byte code can run on any platform be it Windows,
Linux, or macOS which means if we compile a program on Windows, then we can run it
on Linux and vice versa. Each operating system has a different JVM, but the output
produced by all the OS is the same after the execution of the byte code. That is why
we call java a platform-independent language.
2. Object-Oriented Programming
Java is an object-oriented language, promoting the use of objects and classes.
Organizing the program in the terms of a collection of objects is a way of object-oriented
programming, each of which represents an instance of the class.
The four main concepts of Object-Oriented programming are:
 Abstraction
 Encapsulation
 Inheritance
 Polymorphism
3. Simplicity
Java’s syntax is simple and easy to learn, especially for those familiar with C or C++. It
eliminates complex features like pointers and multiple inheritances, making it easier
to write, debug, and maintain code.
4. Robustness
Java language is robust which means reliable. It is developed in such a way that it
puts a lot of effort into checking errors as early as possible, that is why the java compiler
is able to detect even those errors that are not easy to detect by another programming
language. The main features of java that make it robust are garbage collection,
exception handling, and memory allocation.
5. Security
In java, we don’t have pointers, so we cannot access out-of-bound arrays i.e it
shows ArrayIndexOutOfBound Exception if we try to do so. That’s why several
security flaws like stack corruption or buffer overflow are impossible to exploit in Java.
Also, java programs run in an environment that is independent of the os(operating
system) environment which makes java programs more secure.
6. Distributed
We can create distributed applications using the java programming
language. Remote Method Invocation and Enterprise Java Beans are used for creating
distributed applications in java. The java programs can be easily distributed on one or
more systems that are connected to each other through an internet connection.
7. Multithreading
Java supports multithreading, enabling the concurrent execution of multiple parts of
a program. This feature is particularly useful for applications that require high
performance, such as games and real-time simulations.
8. Portability
As we know, java code written on one machine can be run on another machine. The
platform-independent feature of java in which its platform-independent bytecode can be
taken to any platform for execution makes java portable. WORA(Write Once Run
Anywhere) makes java application to generates a ‘.class’ file that corresponds to our
applications(program) but contains code in binary format. It provides ease t architecture-
neutral ease as bytecode is not dependent on any machine architecture. It is the
primary reason java is used in the enterprising IT industry globally worldwide.
9. High Performance
Java architecture is defined in such a way that it reduces overhead during the runtime
and at some times java uses Just In Time (JIT) compiler where the compiler compiles
code on-demand basis where it only compiles those methods that are called making
applications to execute faster.