27 June, 2013

JAVA: How it shaped the world as we see today


Despite being widely used in the web 2.0 era, Java will always be remembered as the technology that started the internet revolution, which subsequently completely transformed the way people used to communicate and gather information. Java application development is here to stay and continue metamorphosing the internet.

The internet revolution actually started in 1991, when Sun Microsystems initiated a project to explore the opportunity in consumer electricity. As part of the experimentation, the team of engineers assembled by the company created a language that enables heterogeneous networks of digital consumer devices and computers to interact with each other. The innovative language called Java was launched by the company in 1995, which subsequently changed the way businesses used to communicate, collaborate and stay connected with others residing in various parts of the world.

As the internet technologies were just starting to take off at that point of time, the team decided to use Java technology in the Netscape Navigator web browser. After more than two decades, the technology has become an indispensable part of the devices and application we use in our day-to-day lives. Along with computer, printers, routers, e-readers, home security systems, television, cable TV box, Blu-ray disc systems and mobile devices, the technology is being used, nowadays, to make powerful and complex applications to support ATMs, credit card, government IDs, robots and airplane systems.

Why Java is Different from Other Object-Oriented Programming Languages
Despite being used widely for developing web applications, Java is considered as a generic purpose programming language. Some of its features like operator overloading and multiple inheritance make it easier for developers to write much smaller codes. Further, the features make it convenient for users to run Java applets and similar small applications. A user can simply download the small applications from a web server, and integrate it seamlessly with his web browser to run it over the internet. These options are hugely popular among modern users to download and run Java applets to suit their specific needs. Also, developers launch Java applets at regular intervals by targeting the current trends in user demand.

As Java is an object-oriented programming language, it is also hugely popular among developers due to its striking features. But unlike conventional languages like C++, it allows developers to automatically handle pointers and manage memory through JAVA Runtime Environment (JRE). So you can easily avoid the errors associated with memory management and pointer handling. At the same time, the programming language executes type checking while compiling and executing the code. So it boosts the performance of your application by ensuring that the data structure is defined clearly.

Java, as a programming language, becomes more robust due to its automatic garbage collection system. You can also use a variety of independent programming tools to develop application by targeting several types of computer architectures. These tools are used widely by developers to build apps by targeting different operating systems, web browser and devices. You can use these tools to make your application compatible with the conventional as well as latest digital devices. A number of features like multiple inheritance, multi-threading and instant compilation further contribute towards making Java a powerful and high-performance programming language.

Despite being a robust programming language, Java has simplified the interpretation and compilation of codes to eliminate the chances of programming errors. Also, most of its logical structure and syntax are derived from C++. So a developer can easily write, compile and interpret codes using objects and classes. However, the Java source code is stored in separate files having .java extension. These files are further compiled in bytecode format with .CLASS extension, before the Java interpreter executes the files finally. A developer can also avail the compatibility provided by the JAVA Runtime Environment (JRE) to run standalone Java application in generic execution of coded programs. The feature is commonly used for developing several types of online video games.

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