Java is a computer programming language. It enables programmers to write computer instructions using English-based commands instead of having to write in numeric codes. It’s known as a high-level language because it can be read and written easily by humans.
Like English, It has a set of rules that determine how the instructions are written. These rules are known as syntax. Once a program has been ready, the high-level instructions are translating into numeric codes that computers can understand and execute.
Who Created Java?
In the early 90s, Java, which originally went by the name Oak and then Green. It was creating by a team led by James Gosling for Sun Microsystems, a company now owned by Oracle.
It was originally designs for use on digital mobile devices, such as cellphones. However, when Java 1.0 was releasing to the public in 1996, its main focus had shifted to use on the internet, providing interactivity with users by giving developers a way to produce animated web pages.
However, there have been many updates since version 1.0, like J2SE 1.3 in 2000, J2SE 5.0 in 2004, Java SE 8 in 2014, and Java SE 10 in 2018.
Over the years, it has evolved as a successful language for use both on and off the internet.
Why Choose Java?
Java was designed with a few key principles in mind:
- Ease of Use: The fundamentals of Java came from a programming language called C++. Although C++ is a powerful language, it is complex in its syntax and inadequate for some of Java’s requirements. It has built on and improved the ideas of C++ to provide a programming language that was powerful and simple to use.
- Reliability: It need to reduce the likelihood of fatal errors from programmer mistakes. With this in mind, object-oriented programming was introduced. When data and its manipulation were packaging together in one place, Java was robust.
- Security: Because it was originally targeting mobile devices that would be exchanging data over networks, it was ready to include a high level of security. Java is probably the most secure programming language to date.
- Platform Independence: Programs need to work regardless of the machines they’re being executed on. It is a portable and cross-platform language that doesn’t care about the operating system, hardware, or devices that it’s running on.
The team at Sun Microsystems was successful in combining these key principles, and Java’s popularity can be trace to it being a robust, secure, easy to use, and portable programming language.
Where Do I Start?
To start programming in it, you first need to download and install the Java development kit.
After you have the JDK installed on your computer, nothing is stopping you from using a basic tutorial to write your first Java program.
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