Table of Contents
What is Java?
Java is an Object-Oriented Programming Language. It was first released by Sun Microsystems in 1995. Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems in 2010 and now maintains the release and support of Java programming language.
Java applications support Write-Once-Run-Everywhere paradigm. It means that you can develop and compile a java program in one system and run the compiled code in any other type of operating system.
For example, you can write and compile a java application in Windows and then run it on Linux and Mac OS systems without any issues.
Java is used in almost every Fortune 500 companies. It’s still the most preferred language for server programming and enterprise applications.
What are the benefits of Java Programming?
- Java is used by everyone. There are more 3 billion devices on which Java is running.
- Java is free and open source. It has great documentation and community support.
- We can create almost any type of application in Java. You can create standalone utility apps, web applications, web services, distributed, and highly scalable applications in Java.
- There are tons of frameworks developed on Java. You can use Spring framework for web applications and web services, JUnit/TestNG for unit testing, Log4J for logging, etc. Most of these frameworks are free and open source.
- Java allows us to create concurrent applications. It’s useful in creating applications that take advantage of the latest technological advancements, such as using multi-core CPUs efficiently.
What are the Core Components of Java?
The three core components of Java are:
- JDK: Java Development Kit is the core component of Java Environment and provides all the tools, executables and binaries required to compile, debug and execute a Java Program.
- JVM: Java Virtual Machine is the heart of Java programming language. When we run a Java program, JVM is responsible for converting the byte code to the machine-specific code. JVM is platform dependent and provides core java functions like memory management, garbage collection, security, etc.
- JRE: Java Runtime Environment is the implementation of JVM. It provides a platform to execute java programs. JRE consists of JVM, java binaries and other classes to execute any java program successfully.
Version History of Java
Java was originally conceptualized and developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems. It was first released for public use in 1995. Java 13 is the current and latest version of Java. From Java 10 onwards, there is a new major version release every 6 months.
| Version | Release Date | Important Features |
|---|---|---|
| JDK Beta | 1995 | First Beta Version |
| Java 1.0 | 23 January 1996 | First public release. The stable version Java 1.0.2 is called Java 1. |
| Java 1.1 | 19 February 1997 |
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| Java 1.2 | 8 December 1998 |
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| Java 1.3 | 8 May 2000 |
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| Java 1.4 | 6 February 2002 |
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| Java 5 | 30 September 2004 |
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| Java 6 | 11 December 2006 |
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| Java 7 | 7 July 2011 |
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| Java 8 | 18 March 2014 |
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| Java 9 | 21 September 2017 |
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| Java 10 | 20 March 2018 | Local-Variable Type Inference |
| Java 11 | 25 September 2018 |
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| Java 12 | 19 March 2019 |
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| Java 13 | 17 Sep 2019 |
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Should I learn Java in 2019?
Yes, Java is still one of the most popular programming languages. According to StackOverflow Developer Survey 2019, its popularity is almost the same as Python. It’s still the most preferred programming language for backend applications.
This is helpful and Informative content. Thanks for sharing this.
Thank you Pankaj for sharing this article with us. I learned history, benefits, features of Java programming from this article. Its really helpful to the java developers and readers too. I appreciate your hard work. Keep Sharing.