History of Java

Java was developed by Sun Microsystems in the early-to-mid 1990’s, and development continues to this day, of course. Here are some of the more important milestones in the early history of the language.

• 1990: A team headed by James Gosling is set up to work on a programming language for consumer electronic devices.

Pic : James Gosling

• The goals were to develop a small language, that would easily adapt to new chips, and be very reliable.

• The language was originally known as Oak, but that name was already used, so it had to be changed.

What is Java?

Java is a programming language expressly designed for use in the distributed environment of the Internet. It was designed to have the “look and feel” of the C++ language, but it is simpler to use than C++ and enforces an object-oriented programming model.

Java can be used to create complete applications that may run on a single computer or be distributed among servers and clients in a network.

It can also be used to build a small application module or applet for use as part of a Web page. Applets make it possible for a Web page user to interact with the page.