Introduction to JAVA(history)-vishmy1.blogspot.com

Topics

1 )- Introduction to Java.

2 )- Why Java was Invented?.

3 )- History of Java.

Introduction to JAVA 

In January of 1991, Bill Joy, James Gosling, Mike Sheradin, Patrick Naughton and several other individuals met in Aspen, Colorado for the first time to discuss the ideas for the Stealth Project.

The goal of the Stealth Project was to do research in the area of application of computers in the consumer electronics market.

The vision of the project was to develop "smart" consumer electronics devices that could all be centrally controlled and programmed from a handheld-remote-control-like device.

According to Gosling, "The goal was to build a system that would let us do a large, distributed heterogeneous network of consumer electronic devices all talking to each other".

With this goal in mind, the stealth group began work. Members of the Stealth Project, which later became known as the Green Project, distributed project tasks among them and gifted a new language to the world.

It took 18 months to develop the first working version of this new language which was initially known as oak but was renamed as Java in 1995.

Why JAVA was Invented?

The trouble with C and C++(and most other languages) is that they are designed to be compiled for a specific.

Although it is possible to compile a C++ program for just about any type of CPU, to do so requires a full C++ Compiler targeted for that CPU.

The Problem is that compilers are expensive and time-consuming to easier and more cost-efficient solutions as needed. In an attempt to find such a solution, Gosling and others began work on a portable, platform-independent language that could be used to produce that would run on a variety of CPUs under differing environments. This effort ultimately led to the creation of JAVA.

The original thrust of Java was not for the internet, but it was originated as a platform-independent language that could be used to create software to be embedded in various electronic devices like remote controls, set-top boxes, ovens, etc. In an attempt to find such a solution, Gosling and his team began working and as a result, they came out with Java.

Java derives much of its characteristics from C and C++. The Java team knew that using syntax of C and continuing object-oriented features of C++ would make their language easier for the C/C++ programmers to understand.

In addition to that Java has added many new concepts that took Java such high. Most importantly Java is tested by professional programmers, which adds the real experience of using Java programming in different applications. Java gives full controls to the programmers.

If you program well, your program reflects it. If you program poorly then also program reflects well. 

History of JAVA

Different manufacturures may choose different processors, It was also important that the language had to be platform idependent.

All Sun people  came from UNIX background, decided to build this new language on object oriented C++ rather than procedure oriented C.

The inventor of pascal, Niklaus Wirth, had designed the code for the portability of language called as virtual machine.

Hence, the Java Virtual Machine came into picture. Hence the green project engineers used the concept of virtual machine and solve the problem of platform independency.

Initially James Gosling decided to name this language as "Oak" (because of an oak tree that was outside his window at his Sun office).

These people later realized that, there was an existing programming language called Oak. So they renamed it by Java.

In 1992 the green project launched its first project. it was an intelligent remote control. Unfortunately it was a flop show at the beginning and was remained flop till 1994.

Since two years the green project team was marketing this product. But finally in 1994 they discovered their first costomer.

When all this was going on at Sun,The world was being crazy about World Wide Web and era of WWW was growing bigger and bigger.

We all know that the key to web browser is "hypertext". At the same time 1994, the Java team also decided to build a web browser which would be architecture neutral, real-time, reliable and secure

So, they build a web browser too.

They called it HotJava browser. This HotJava browser was  written in Java to demonstrate the power of Java.

At the same time they were also thinking about new power of Java called applets. So they made another browser capable of executing different combined code too.

Such high jump of Java had shown everybody the real power  and boost of Java in the technological market.

Finally the first version of Java was released in early 1996.