The name JAVA is a computer-based programming language that functions to develop computer-based applications. It does not have a specific full form or neither an abbreviation. Hence, the ‘Just Another Virtual Accelerator’ is a fictionalized complete version of JAVA and the name is put forward by the general public.
- Java Full Form: Java Origin and Evolution
- Java Full Form: Application of Java
- Java Full Form: Types of Java Applications
- Java Full Form: Java Terminology
- Java Full Form: History of Java
- Java Full Form: Important Features of JAVA
- Java Full Form: Object-Oriented Nature
- Java Full Form:Robustness and Reliability
- Java Full Form: Security Considerations
- Java Full Form: Primary/Main Features of Java
- Java Full Form: The benefits of learning to code with Java
- Java Full Form: Conclusion
- Java Full Form: FAQ about Java
Java Origin and Evolution
Java’s journey began in the early 1990s when a team of developers at Sun Microsystems, led by James Gosling, set out to create a programming language that could overcome the limitations of existing languages. The result was Java, introduced in 1995. The language was designed with the principle of “write once, run anywhere” (WORA) in mind, aiming to be platform-independent and capable of running on any system with a Java Virtual Machine (JVM). This concept revolutionized the way software was developed and deployed.
Application of Java
According to Sun, 3 billion devices run Java. There are many devices where Java is currently used. Some of them are as follows:
Types of Java Applications
1. Standalone Application
Standalone applications are also known as desktop applications or window-based applications. These are traditional software that we need to install on every machine. Examples of standalone applications are Media players, antivirus, etc. AWT and Swing are used in Java for creating standalone applications.
2. Web Application
An application that runs on the server side and creates a dynamic page is called a web application. Currently, Servlet, JSP, Struts, Spring, Hibernate, JSF, etc. technologies are used for creating web applications in Java.
3. Enterprise Application
An application that is distributed in nature, such as banking applications, etc. is called an enterprise application. It has advantages like high-level security, load balancing, and clustering. In Java, ERJ is used for creating enterprise applications.
4. Mobile Application
An application that is created for mobile devices is called a mobile application. Currently, Android and Java ME are used for creating mobile applications.
Java Terminology
1. Java Virtual Machine(JVM): This is generally referred to as JVM. There are three execution phases of a program. They are written, compile and run the program.
- Writing a program is done by a Java programmer like you and me.
- The compilation is done by the JAVAC compiler which is a primary Java compiler included in the Java development kit (JDK). It takes the Java program as input and generates bytecode as output.
- In the Running phase of a program, JVM executes the bytecode generated by the compiler.
2. Bytecode in the Development Process: As discussed, the Javac compiler of JDK compiles the java source code into bytecode so that it can be executed by JVM. It is saved as a .class file by the compiler. To view the bytecode, a disassembler like javac can be used.
3. Java Development Kit(JDK): While we were using the term JDK we learned about bytecode and JVM. So, as the name suggests, it is a complete Java development kit that includes everything including compiler, Java Runtime Environment (JRE), Java debuggers, Java docs, etc. For the program to execute in Java, we need to install JDK on our computer in order to create, compile and run the Java program.
4. Java Runtime Environment (JRE): JDK includes JRE. JRE installation on our computers allows the Java program to run, however, we cannot compile it. JRE includes a browser, JVM, applet support, and plugins. For running the Java program, a computer needs JRE.
5. Garbage Collector: In Java, programmers can’t delete the objects. To delete or recollect that memory JVM has a program called Garbage Collector. Garbage Collectors can recollect the objects that are not referenced. So Java makes the life of a programmer easy by handling memory management. However, programmers should be careful about their code whether they are using objects that have been used for a long time. Because Garbage cannot recover the memory of objects being referenced.
6. ClassPath: The classPath is the file path where the Java runtime and Java compiler look for .class files to load. By default, JDK provides many libraries. If you want to include external libraries they should be added to the classpath.
Java Full Form: History of Java
Creation and Development (1991-1995): Java changed into to begin with evolved by way of James Gosling and his crew at Sun Microsystems in 1991. The task become firstly called “Oak” but become later renamed “Java” in 1995. The language become designed to be platform-independent, item-orientated, and stable, making it perfect for networked environments.
Java 1.0 Release (1996): Java 1.Zero changed into officially launched in January 1996. It became the first model to provide the “write once, run everywhere” functionality, permitting developers to write down code that could run on any tool with a Java Virtual Machine (JVM).
Java’s Popularity and Expansion (Late 1990s): Java received rapid reputation in the overdue Nineteen Nineties, in particular with the rise of the net. It have become widely used for web applets, server-side applications, and organisation-stage answers. Sun Microsystems additionally introduced Java 2 (J2SE, J2EE, and J2ME), expanding its attain into organisation, computer, and cell packages.
Open Sourcing of Java (2006): In 2006, Sun Microsystems made a full-size pass with the aid of open-sourcing Java underneath the GNU General Public License (GPL). This allowed the global developer community to make contributions to and use Java extra freely.
Acquisition by means of Oracle (2010): In 2010, Oracle Corporation obtained Sun Microsystems, taking up the development and stewardship of Java. Oracle persisted to increase the language, introducing regular updates and improvements.
Introduction of Java 8 (2014): Java eight, launched in 2014, changed into one of the maximum tremendous updates to the language. It added functions like lambdas, the Stream API, and the brand new Date and Time API, which greatly more suitable the language’s abilities and overall performance.
Java Full Form: Important Features of JAVA
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Platform-Independent | Java’s “write once, run anywhere” capability is achieved through the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), allowing Java programs to run on any device that has a JVM. |
| Object-Oriented | Java is an object-oriented programming language, meaning it organizes software design around data, or objects, rather than functions and logic. |
| Simple | Java was designed to be easy to learn with a straightforward syntax that is easier to write, read, and maintain compared to other languages like C++. |
| Secure | Java provides a secure environment for executing code, with features like bytecode verification, access control, and a robust exception-handling mechanism. |
| Robust | Java emphasizes early error checking, runtime checking, and garbage collection, which help in creating reliable and error-free applications. |
| Multithreading | Java supports multithreading, allowing multiple threads to run concurrently, making it ideal for applications that require multitasking and efficient use of CPU resources. |
| High Performance | Java achieves high performance with its Just-In-Time (JIT) compiler, which compiles bytecode into native machine code at runtime. |
| Distributed | Java has built-in support for network programming, enabling developers to create distributed applications that can work across multiple computers in a network. |
| Dynamic and Extensible | Java is designed to adapt to an evolving environment, supporting dynamic loading of classes, extensibility through interfaces and abstract classes, and runtime polymorphism. |
| Automatic Memory Management | Java includes an automatic garbage collector that helps manage memory by automatically removing objects that are no longer in use. |
Java Full Form: Object-Oriented Nature
Encapsulation: Java permits for encapsulation by means of bundling statistics (attributes) and methods (features) right into a single unit, or elegance. This hides the inner state of an item and calls for all interplay to be finished via an item’s strategies, which allows shield records integrity and promotes modularity.
Inheritance: Java helps inheritance, which allows one elegance (the subclass) to inherit the residences and behaviors of every other class (the superclass). This promotes code reusability and establishes a hierarchical relationship among classes.
Polymorphism: Java permits polymorphism, where a unmarried approach or operator can perform in different ways depending at the context. This is executed via technique overloading (more than one strategies with the equal name but one-of-a-kind parameters) and technique overriding (a subclass affords a particular implementation of a technique already defined in its superclass).
Abstraction: Java supports abstraction with the aid of permitting builders to create summary classes and interfaces. Abstract classes can offer a partial implementation and force subclasses to finish the implementation, whilst interfaces define a agreement that imposing classes must follow, with out dictating how the contract is fulfilled.
Classes and Objects: Java is essentially prepared across the concepts of lessons and items. A class is a blueprint for creating items, and an item is an instance of a category. This company facilitates in modeling real-world entities and their interactions in a dependent manner.
Java Full Form:Robustness and Reliability
Strong Type Checking: Java enforces strict type checking at compile-time, which helps prevent kind-related errors and guarantees that operations on variables are carried out correctly, decreasing runtime troubles.
Exception Handling Mechanism: Java’s sturdy exception handling framework (strive, seize, ultimately) lets in builders to control and get over runtime errors successfully, preserving utility stability and ensuring swish errors healing.
Automatic Garbage Collection: Java’s garbage collector routinely manages reminiscence allocation and deallocation, which enables prevent reminiscence leaks and dangling recommendations, contributing to more reliable reminiscence control.
Compile-Time Error Checking: Java performs thorough collect-time error checking, catching many capacity troubles before the code is administered. This early detection facilitates prevent common programming errors and improves code reliability.
Class Loader and Bytecode Verification: Java makes use of a category loader to dynamically load lessons and a bytecode verifier to ensure that the code adheres to Java’s safety and integrity constraints, stopping the execution of corrupt or malicious code.
Immutable Objects: Java encourages the use of immutable objects (objects whose kingdom can not be modified as soon as created), which simplifies debugging and guarantees that objects stay constant all through their lifecycle, enhancing reliability.
Java Full Form: Security Considerations
| Security Consideration | Description |
|---|---|
| Sandboxing | Java applets and applications run in a restricted environment (sandbox) to prevent unauthorized access to system resources, enhancing security. |
| Bytecode Verification | The Java Virtual Machine (JVM) includes a bytecode verifier that checks code for illegal bytecode operations before execution, helping to prevent security vulnerabilities. |
| Security Manager | Java’s Security Manager provides a framework for enforcing access controls on sensitive operations (e.g., file access, network connections) based on security policies. |
| Cryptography Libraries | Java offers built-in cryptographic libraries (e.g., javax.crypto, java.security) that support encryption, decryption, and secure key management to protect data. |
| Class Loading Mechanism | Java’s class loading mechanism allows for dynamic loading of classes, but also provides safeguards against loading potentially malicious code, enhancing security. |
| Access Control | Java uses access control mechanisms (e.g., access modifiers like public, protected, private) to control the visibility and accessibility of classes, methods, and fields, which helps protect sensitive data and functionality. |
| Secure Coding Practices | Java encourages secure coding practices, such as avoiding the use of unsafe operations, validating inputs, and handling exceptions properly to mitigate security risks. |
Primary/Main Features of Java
1. Platform Independent: The compiler converts source code to bytecode and then the JVM executes the bytecode generated by the compiler. This bytecode can run on any platform be it Windows, Linux, or macOS which means if we compile a program on Windows, then we can run it on Linux and vice versa. Each operating system has a different JVM, but the output produced by all the OS is the same after the execution of the bytecode. That is why we call Java a platform-independent language.
2. Object-Oriented Programming Language: Organizing the program in terms of a collection of objects is a way of object-oriented programming, each of which represents an instance of the class.
The four main concepts of Object-Oriented programming are:
- Abstraction
- Encapsulation
- Inheritance
- Polymorphism
3. Simple: Java is one of the simple languages as it does not have complex features like pointers, operator overloading, multiple inheritances, and Explicit memory allocation.
4. Robust: Java language is robust which means reliable. It is developed in such a way that it puts a lot of effort into checking errors as early as possible, which is why the Java compiler is able to detect even those errors that are not easy to detect by another programming language. The main features of Java that make it robust are garbage collection, Exception Handling, memory allocation and more…
The benefits of learning to code with Java
Learning to code with Java can make you a more competitive candidate for programming roles. A few more benefits of learning to code with Java include:
- Java is one of the simplest programming languages to learn and typically can be mastered in a shorter period of time than other languages.
- There are countless online resources to learn Java, free and paid.
- Everything from application servers to enterprise applications can be built with Java, making it a high-demand skill in the world of programming and software development.
- Employment of software developers is projected to grow by 22 per cent between 2020 and 2030, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Java’s popularity continues to grow among leading brands.
Conclusion
In this journey through the world of Java, we’ve explored the language’s fundamental concepts, advanced features, and significance in the ever-evolving realm of software development. Java has proven itself to be more than just a programming language; it’s a powerful tool with a rich history and a bright future.
FAQs About Java
Q1: What is Java?
A: Java is a high-level, object-oriented programming language designed for portability and cross-platform compatibility, allowing developers to write code that can run on any device with a Java Virtual Machine (JVM).
Q2: What is the Java Virtual Machine (JVM)?
A: The JVM is an abstract machine that enables a computer to run Java programs. It interprets or compiles Java bytecode into machine code that can be executed by the host machine.
Q3: What is a Java bytecode?
A: Java bytecode is the intermediate representation of Java source code, which is compiled by the Java compiler. It is platform-independent and executed by the JVM.
Q4: What is an object in Java?
A: An object in Java is an instance of a class. It represents a real-world entity with attributes (fields) and behaviors (methods).
Q5: What is inheritance in Java?
A: Inheritance is a feature in Java that allows a class (subclass) to inherit properties and methods from another class (superclass), promoting code reuse and establishing a hierarchical relationship between classes.
