An Introduction to Java
Java is an OO language similar to C++, but simplified.
Java source code files (files with a .java extension) are compiled into a format called bytecode (files with a .class extension), which can then be executed on most computers because Java interpreters and runtime environments, known as Java Virtual Machines (JVMs), exist for most operating systems.
What is Java?
Java was created in 1995 at Sun Microsystems, which was acquired by Oracle Corporation in January 2010.
Significantly, Oracle, previously only a software vendor, now owns both hardware and software product lines from Sun (e.g., SPARC Enterprise and Java, respectively).
More than 3 billion devices run Java, and it is used for:
- mobile applications (especially Android apps),
- desktop applications (EJB),
- web applications (JSF, Servlet, and JSP),
- web servers and application servers,
- games,
- database connection (JDBC and JPA), and
- and much, much more!
Why Use Java?
- Java works on different platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux, Raspberry Pi, etc.).
- It is one of the most popular programming languages in the world.
- It is easy to learn and simple to use.
- It is open-source and free.
- It is secure, fast, and powerful.
- It has a huge community support (tens of millions of developers).