Java
Java is a high-level, class-based, object-oriented programming language developed by Sun Microsystems in 1995. Here are key aspects of Java:
History
- Java was originally designed for interactive television, but it was too advanced for the digital cable television industry at the time.
- The language was developed by James Gosling and his team at Sun Microsystems, initially called Oak, named after an oak tree outside Gosling's office.
- The first public implementation was released in 1995 with the name Java 1.0.
- In 2007, Sun released most of its Java technologies under the GNU General Public License.
- Oracle Corporation acquired Sun Microsystems in January 2010, and since then, Oracle has been the steward of Java.
Characteristics
- Platform Independence: Java's "write once, run anywhere" (WORA) capability allows programs written in Java to be compiled to an intermediate format called bytecode, which can run on any Java Virtual Machine (JVM) regardless of the underlying platform.
- Strong Typing: Java uses static typing to ensure type safety, reducing certain types of runtime errors.
- Automatic Memory Management: Java has an automatic garbage collection mechanism, which frees the programmer from having to manually manage memory allocation and deallocation.
- Rich API: Java provides a comprehensive standard library, which simplifies many common programming tasks.
Development
- Java applications are compiled to bytecode, which can be executed by the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) on any platform that supports Java.
- The Java Development Kit (JDK) includes the Java Runtime Environment (JRE), compilers, tools, and libraries necessary to develop and run Java applications.
- Java EE (Enterprise Edition) is for large-scale, distributed, multi-tiered applications, while Java SE (Standard Edition) is for general-purpose computing.
Usage
- Java is widely used in web applications, server-side applications, mobile apps (especially for Android), and enterprise software.
- It's popular in financial services due to its robustness, security, and portability across platforms.
Versions
- Java 8, released in March 2014, introduced lambda expressions and the Stream API, which significantly improved functional programming capabilities in Java.
- Java 11, released in September 2018, is the first long-term support (LTS) release after Java 8.
- Java 17, released in September 2021, is another LTS version, bringing features like sealed classes and pattern matching for instanceof.
Community and Ecosystem
- The Java Community Process (JCP) allows for the development of standards, guidelines, and technologies to be used in Java.
- The ecosystem includes numerous frameworks like Spring, Hibernate, and Struts for building scalable applications.
Sources
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