What is Java, History of Java, how it all began

Keywords: history of java, java version history, history of java programming language, brief history of java

In this post you will read a brief history of Java. I will tell you what is Java and what is its Important. The goal of this post is to tell you how this programming language came to existence and actually how it win the heart of all developers. So without wasting time let’s jump to the goal of our post.

JAVA HISTORY

What is Java??

Java is a programming language which is used for developing so many applications and programs in present IT industry. Java is programming language where you can write code in form of classes something similar to classic C++ language. And it’s a purely Object Oriented Programming Language. Java is also a platform Independent language i.e you can write code in one OS and can run same compiled code in another OS. Java supports millions library classes which you can be imported while coding. These libraries provide billions of methods and these methods help programmer to develop a well optimized and readable code.

History of JAVA

The development of Java language is started in mid of 1991. The exact date is not available but it’s in the month of June. Initial the language was to be used for Interactive Televisions. But digital cable television Industries in 1991 found this language more advanced for them. James Gosling, Mike Sheridan, and Patrick Naughton were the key persons in development of Java. James Gosling who also known as founder of Java started “THE GREEN PROJECT” and lead to release of Java in 1995. I made a table with years and events which describe the History of Java.

Table describing History of Java

Year/Date	Events
June 1991	It’s the initiation of Java project by James Gosling, Mike Sheridan, and Patrick Naughton. The Green Project Begins
1995	First public implementation of Java as Java 1.0 released by Sun Microsystems. Netscape Navigator Internet browser incorporate by Java technology.
1996	This was the year when first JavaOne Developer Conference held and JDK 1.0  released
1997	Tried to get from ISO/IEC JTC1 but formalized by ECMA international and later soon it had also withdrawn from process and Java remain de facto standard. Java controlled by the Java community. Same year JDL 1.1 touch the 220K download mark in just three weeks and 8000 participants are participated in JavaOne which made the world's largest developer conference.
December 1998 – 1999	J2SE 1.2 the also known as Java 2 launched and source code is released. World’s first smart card based on Java Card Technology is released in this duration by VISA. Also released J2EE beta version. JavaOne conference draws 20000 developers in 1999.
2000	This the year when formation of Java User Groups were on top gear. From different part of world more than 400 Java User Groups are established. In same year Steve Jobs joins JavaOne and announce Apple will support Java technology in future.
2001	First time international JavaOne conference in Yokohama Japan and Java EE SDK touch Over 1 million downloads mark.
2003	Java was everywhere. More than 500 million desktops run Java and 75% of professional developers started using Java.
2004	Java 2, SE 5 released and The Mars Rover (Spirit) touches down on Mars powered by Java Technology.
2006	Java EE components were open-sourced under Glassfish Project also Java SE and ME initial components were released as open source. New J2 versions renamed as Java EE, Java ME, and Java SE, respectively
November 13, 2006	Sun released much of Java as free and open source software, (FOSS), under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL).
On May 8, 2007	Java core code Open Sourced
2008	JavaFX 1.0 is released and also Blu-ray Disc™, powered by Java technology released.
2009–2010	Oracle Corporation's acquisition of Sun Microsystems
April 2, 2010	James Gosling resigned from Oracle

Why and When it Named Java??

The language called Oak at its initial stage of development. This name was given after an oak tree stands outside the Gosling’s office. Later name changed to Green as project name is also “The Green Project”. Finally Java name is given taken on Java coffee as this coffee is consumed by all developer in very large amount during language development. After that there is no name change for Java.

Java version History

Java version History means changes in versions of Java since it got released. Java gone through many major changed and up gradation since its first version was released. Sometime few libraries are added to the existing list to increase the reliability and productivity of language. These changes like addition of new libraries and classes are made to the Java standard library where all classes, methods and interfaces are defined. Some more features like applets, swings and Java2D are added time to time during development and up gradation of Java Programming language. These changes made Java more easy, unique and user-friendly time to time. These changes help developer in coding by providing more options for them.

Here is major changes in Java version History (shown in tabular form)

   

Release Date	Versions
1995	1 JDK Alpha and Beta
January 23, 1996	2 JDK 1.0
February 19, 1997	3 JDK 1.1
December 8, 1998	4 J2SE 1.2
May 8, 2000	5 J2SE 1.3
February 6, 2002	6 J2SE 1.4
September 30, 2004	J2SE 5.0
December 11, 2006	8 Java SE 6
July 28, 2011	9 Java SE 7
2007-05-07 to 2013-06-18	Java SE 6 Update 1 to Java SE 6 Update 51
July 28, 2011	Java SE 7
Is expected in March 2014	Java 8
hope to have in a 2016	Java SE 9
Date not declared	Java SE 10

So above table is describing the dates and versions released from Java Version History.

Importance of Java

Importance of Java can be seen easily in our daily life. Billions of products and applications run on Java platform. Java is free and open source so developer love it. Java provide a platform independent binary code so developer must not worry about the OS and configuration of system.