In this article we are discussing the brief history and the future of Java, which one of the most popular software programming language.
Java Programming Language: History and future as high level software programming language
For years Java has been the most popular programming language for building dynamic apps. Being there for as long as two tickets or even more Java had once been the de facto standard of programming for developers worldwide. It is still now the original language for popular mobile app platforms like android. Java is still the most preferred language for dynamic web and cross-platform app development with complex features. As a programming language, it still offers the unmatched career opportunity for a new learner. It is a versatile, flexible, powerful, dynamic and robust language with the worldwide developer community.
Java is used to develop applications for:
- Desktop
- Mobile
- Web and
- Embedded devices
Let us introduce hear the brief history and the future of Java programming language.
The early years
Java was conceptualized, conceived and pioneered by the great programmer James Gosling along with Mike Sheridan and Patrick Naughton through their Java language project. The quintessential idea that was the fundamental basis of Java is “Write Once, Run Anywhere” and this core idea made Java what it has become now.
Gosling joining in the Sun Microsystems way back in 1984 started to work on Java project in 1991 partnering with two of his colleagues, respectively as Michael Sheridan and Patrick Naughton. The project after starting on 1991 took almost 3 years to come to a fruitful completion. Though the end product and first consumable version of Java as a programming language were unearthed in 1994.
In the development of Java, three focus areas that played an important role include performance, security, and functionality.
Some of the common attributes of Java from the early years to this day can be referred as:
- Powerful and secure
- Functional and flexible
- Powerful and dynamic
- Easily portable
- Neutral to devise environment and architecture
- Object oriented
After the initial launch, Java continued to evolve with the addition of new features and more refinements in every subsequent release. Initially, the language was named Oak, referring to the strength of the oak tree. But later on before final release, it was decided to name the language as Java.
Strengths of Java
- The advantages of Java being too well known already, we feel it be our responsibility to explain the strengths of this language for the sake of new learners.
- Java brings architecture independent offer flexibility to run and deploy across the devices.
- Java offers built-in garbage collection in complete contrast to programming languages such as C and C++.
- Java is inherently static in nature allowing easy readability and maintenance. You can easily release several types of data for a wide variety of apps.
- It is 'Write Once Run Everywhere’ language allowing unmatched flexibility for all types of operating systems.
- Java is easily adaptable and works as the basis for several different languages.
The future ahead
Java is continuing to remain as replaceable in the world of programming and with regular updates it will continue to enrich us to deliver better interfaces and apps. Oracle is continuing to enrich Java with every new update and we can expect more boost in features, performance, and flexibility with every new update.
Learning Java Programming language
New engineers will find following tutorials very useful in learning Java: