What is All This Talk About Java?
Java is a "hot" (or "cool") programming language and environment because:
- Java is simple and familiar.
The Java syntax strongly resembles that of C and C++.
The Java libraries offer many frequently used functions and
a window toolkit, which make it easy to create applications and their
user-interfaces together.
- The Java runtime environment is small.
Java was originally designed to be used in appliances,
where memory is limited.
- Java is object-oriented. Almost everything in Java is a class,
method or object.
- Java is platform independent. Java programs are compiled to a
byte code format. There are interpreters for this format for many
platforms. Java programs (should) behave exactly the same on all platforms.
- Java is portable. Nothing in the Java definition is machine
dependent. There are no language or library differences for different
operating systems or hardware platforms.
- Java is distributed. A single application can download classes
from different sites.
- Java is robust. Java programs run in a controlled environment.
Because of the strong typing, range checking and lack of pointers,
most runtime errors can be detected at the time they occur.
- Java programs are secure. Java programs run in an environment
guarded by a security manager. Local applications may open files and
network connections, but Applets that are loaded from untrusted servers
cannot.
- Java programs are potentially fast.
Programs can be optimized to run as fast as equivalent C++ programs.
There are "Just In Time (JIT)" compilers that translate byte codes into
machine code instead of using an interpreter.
- Java programs are multi-threaded.
A single program can spawn different threads, doing several things
simultaneously.
- There is a lot of cool stuff around. Many people are developing
useful classes and applications, which can be downloaded and (re)used.