Java an introduction

Java is a universal function programming language with a number of features that make the language well matched for use on the World Wide Web. It’s initially developed through James Gosling at Sun Microsystems (which is now a contributory of Oracle Corporation) and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has simpler object model and smaller amount low-level facilities. Java applications are classically compiled to byte code (class file) that is capable of run on any Java Virtual Machine (JVM) not considering of computer architecture. Java is a general-purpose, parallel, class-based, object-oriented language that is particularly designed to have as few implementation dependencies as possible. It is proposed to let application developers "write once, run anywhere". Java is at present one of the most popular programming languages in use, and is widely used beginning application software to web applications.

Java source code files (files with a .java extension) are compiled into a system called byte code (files with a .class extension), which can then be execute by a Java interpreter. Compiled Java code can scuttle on most computers because Java interpreters and runtime environments, known as Java Virtual Machines (VMs), stay alive for most operating systems, including UNIX, the Macintosh OS, and Windows. Byte code can also be transformed in a straight line into machine language instructions by a just-in-time compiler (JIT).
Small Java applications are called Java applets and can be downloaded from a Web server and run on your computer by a Java-compatible Web browser, such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer. An applet is a tiny Internet-based program in produce in Java, a programming language for the Web, which can be downloaded by any computer. The applet is also able to run in HTML. The applet is usually embedded in an HTML page on a Web site and can be executed from surrounded by a browser.


Future of Java Technology

When Java was developed originally as OAK even its developers were not sure in which direction the technology will grow. And basically Java has taken an unexpected turn around as a development technology. It started its trip with surrounded applications but people found it rather slow when balance to C++. Java made attack into web in the form of applets and ruled the world for some time. But then came activity era with movement of .NET and J2EE.

Now-a-day people expect huge performance from applications which are hosted over the net on some remote servers. Implementing thick client is one of the solutions to achieve better performance for such applications. Thick client means the implementation where client itself carries out some operations without interrupting server for small things. Java applets are most competitive candidate for thick clients. They can offer full-fledged stand-alone functionalities even though downloaded from a remote server.

The enterprise form of Java, which is known as J2EE (Java 2 Enterprise Edition), is the most famous Java architecture in use in current scenario. J2EE is an arrangement of many technologies bundled together to form a pack, which offers the whole thing that is required to develop a project application. It comes with features like flexibility, scalability, object orientation, security, resolution, caching, performance tuning and many more.