About JAVA

JAVA is a widely used object-oriented language developed and distributed by Sun Microsystems as an open-source programming technology. JAVA encompasses several parts, including language, bytecode and virtual machine. A set of programming tools is provided in the form of a JAVA Software Development Kit (SDK) for running different versions on various operating platforms. JAVA is commonly used for cell-phone and PDA applications.

History

In 1991, a team comprising of James Gosling, Bill Joy and a few others began working on an early version of JAVA. They designed it for set-top boxes and hand-held devices, and it was then called OAK, not JAVA. It was the failure of OAK that resulted in improvements and the new name JAVA, with version 1.0 released in 1995 by Sun Microsystems. Further releases were many and frequent. The latest version, JAVA SE 7 (code named "Dolphin"), is scheduled to be released in 2009.

Running Platform

JAVA is a simplified programming language in terms of compilation and interpretation, as it avoids and/or reduces programming errors. Most of its syntax--its logical structure--is derived from the C++ language. Its code is written, compiled and interpreted by using classes and objects. JAVA source code is stored in files with a .JAVA extension that is further compiled in bytecode format with a .CLASS extension. The final execution is done by a JAVA interpreter. JAVA Runtime Environment (JRE) provides compatibility for running any standalone JAVA application in generic execution of coded programs, such as those found in certain online video games.

Significance

JAVA is considered a general purpose programming language and has various features like multiple inheritance and operator overloading. These provide help in running small applications such as JAVA applets that can be downloaded from a Web server and run over the World Wide Web through JAVA-compatible web browsers.

Features

JAVA, as an object-oriented programming language, has received tremendous accolades due to its striking features. Unlike C or C++, it either avoids error-prone tasks like pointer handling and memory management, or it handles them automatically through JRE. JAVA carries out type checking during compilation and execution that ensures that data structures are clearly defined. Furthermore, its automatic garbage collecting system adds robustness to the language, and its independent set of programming tools makes it compatible with most types of computer architectures. JAVA has become a high-performance programming language due to features like multi-threading, multiple inheritance and instant compilation.

Drawbacks

Since JAVA is an interpreted language, meaning that it has several layers to go through before it becomes executable, speed is not its greatest asset; however, with computers becoming faster and faster, this is not a major drawback. Another problem is due to the syntax being similar to C and C++, which, while making it easy for C and C++ programmers to switch to JAVA programming, can hamper beginners with its awkwardness, such as tricky placement of semicolons in the code and the presence of the so-called "dangling else problem," a problem that has been eliminated from other modern programming languages (see "Additional Resources," below).

Resources

• The "dangling else problem"
• JAVA Official Website