An Introduction Of Java

Java is a programming language and software platform in the beginning developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems, which is now a subsidiary of Oracle Corporation and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform.

The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities. Java applications are typically compiled to byte code (class file) that can run on any Java Virtual Machine (JVM) regardless of computer architecture. Java is a general-purpose, concurrent, class-based, object-oriented language that is specifically designed to have as few implementation dependencies as possible. It is intended to let application developers "write once, run anywhere". Java is currently one of the most popular programming languages in use, and is widely used from application software to web applications.

The original and reference implementation Java compilers, virtual machines, and class libraries were developed by Sun from 1995. As of May 2007, in compliance with the specifications of the Java Community Process, Sun relicensed most of its Java technologies under the GNU General Public License. Others have also developed alternative implementations of these Sun technologies, such as the GNU Compiler for Java, GNU Classpath, and Dalvik.

Sun has defined and supports four editions of Java targeting different application environments and segmented many of its APIs so that they belong to one of the platforms. The platforms are:

Java Card for smartcards.
Java Platform, Micro Edition (Java ME) targeting environments with limited resources.
Java Platform, Standard Edition (Java SE) targeting workstation environments.
Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) targeting large distributed enterprise or Internet environments.

The set of APIs is controlled by Sun Microsystems in cooperation with others through the Java Community Process program. Companies or individuals participating in this process can influence the design and development of the APIs. This process has been a subject of controversy.

Sun also provided an edition called Personal Java that has been outdated by later, standards-based Java ME configuration-profile pairings.

Programming languages are used for controlling the performance of a computer. Like natural languages, programming languages conform to rules for syntax and semantics.

There are thousands of programming languages and new ones are created every year. Few languages ever become sufficiently popular that they are used by more than a few people, but professional programmers can easily use dozens of different languages during their career.