Java is a programming language developed by James Gosling of Sun Microsystem, and it was released as an important component of Sun Microsystem in 1995. The softwares written in this language are able to run on any machine and that is the versatility of the language. The code based on which the software written in the Java language is running on one machine is not in need of being altered by another.
Virtual machines, Java compilers, class libraries were developed by Sun Microsysem from 1991 and released in 1995. Sun has since renewed the license of most Java technologies. There are companies other than Sun who have also developed different implementations of the Java technologies.
Origin of the Java language
Mike Sheridan, James Gosling and Patrick Naughton had started the project of Java language in 1991. The program was actually designed for interactive television, but digitization had not set in the cable TV industry at that time. Initially the language was termed as Oak, and it was said to have been named after an oak tree outside the office of James Gosling, but later it was named as Java. The name Java is said to have derived from Java coffee that the creators of the language used to have a lot.
Sun Microsystem had brought to the market the Java language in the form of Java 1.0 for the first time. The unique thing about this language that the company highlighted was that once written this language would run on any platform. The language is quite secure and has configurable security. It allowed restrictions to be put in file access in a network environment. Soon, the major web browser companies integrated Java applets into their web browsers and thus Java became popular.
Java programming forum
The popularity of Java can be gauged from the fact that there are scores of online Java enthusiasts who have formed a forum of their own, Java programming forum, where they share their knowledge, their questions, answers and suggestions. This community of Java programmers in the internet fans all over the world and we generally come across this as Java forum. The members have a gamut of skills, but the common element in them is an obsession for learning and coding Java. New Java programmers are always invited to post their knowledge, inquiries and suggestions in the forum. Presently Java is one of the most popular programming languages all over the world, more specifically for web applications in client –server environment.
The second version of Java, Java2, had a multitude of configurations which had been built to run on different platforms. Such as J2EE is used for enterprise application and J2ME is used for mobile application whereas J2ME is used I standard edition. In the Java forum the enthusiasts, whether veterans or newbies, share their expertise and interests abut the latest developments in the field of the Java programming language. With a view to market the product, Sun Microsystem renamed the J2 version naming it as Java EE, Java ME, and Java SE.
However, there are critics of the Java programming language also.