The Making of JAVA

Programming Language Before JAVA

Bjarne Stroustrup invented C++ in 1979, while was working at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey. Stroustrup initially called the new language “C with Classes.” However, in 1983, the name was changed to C++. C++ extends C by adding object-oriented features. Because C++ is built upon the foundation of C, it includes all of C’s features, attributes, and benefits. This is a crucial reason for the success of C++ as a language. The invention of C++ was not an attempt to create a completely new programming language. Instead, it was an enhancement to an already highly successful one. C++ was standardized in November 1997, and an ANSI/ISO standard for C++ is now available.

The Stage Is Set For JAVA

By the end of the 1980s and the early 1990s, object-oriented programming using C++ took hold. Indeed, for a brief moment it seemed as if programmers had finally found the perfect language. Because C++ blended the high efficiency and stylistic elements of C with object-oriented paradigm, it was a language that could be used to create a wide range of programs. However, just as in the past, forces were brewing that would, once again, drive computer language evolution forward. Within a few years, the World Wide Web and the Internet would reach critical mass. This event would precipitate another revolution in programming.

The Creation of Java

James Gosling, Patrick Naughton, Chris Warth, Ed Frank, and Mike Sheridan conceived Java at Sun Microsystem, Inc. in 1991. It took 18 months to develop the first working version. This language was initially called “Oak” but renamed “Java” in 1995. Between the initial implementation of Oak in the fall of 1992 and the public announcement of Java in the spring of 1995, many more people contributed to the design and evolution of the language. Bill Joy, Arthur van Hoff, Jonathan Payne, Frank Yellin, and Tim Lindholm were key contributors to the maturing of the ...

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The Creation of Java

The Story of Success

Somewhat surprisingly, the original impetus for Java was not the Internet! Instead, the primary motivation was the need for a platform-independent (that is, architecture-neutral) language that could be used to create software to be embedded in various consumer electronic devices, such as microwave ovens and remote controls. As you can probably guess, many different types of CPUs are used as controllers. The trouble with C and C++(and most other languages) is that they are designed to be compiled for a specific target. Although it is possible to compile a C++ program for just about any type of CPU, to do so requires a full C++ compiler targeted for that CPU. The problem is that compilers are expensive and time-consuming to create. An easier – and more cost-efficient – solution was needed. In an attempt to find such a solution, Gosling and others began work on a portable platform-independent language that could be used to produce code that would run on a variety of CPUs under differing environments. This effort ultimately led to the creation of Java.

About the time that the details were being worked out, a second, and ultimately more important, factor was emerging that would play a crucial role in the future of Java. This second force was, of course, the World Wide Web. Had the Web not taken shape at about that same time that Java was being implemented, Java might have remained a useful but obscure language for programmer’s consumer electronics. However, with the emergence of the World Wide Web, Java was propelled to fore front of computer language design, because the Web, too, demanded portable programs.

By 1993, it became obvious to member of the java design team that the problems of portability frequently encountered when creating code for embedded controllers are also found when attempting to create code for the Internet. In fact, the same problem that Java was initially designed to solve on a small scale could also be applied to the Internet on a large scale. This realization caused the focus of Java to switch from consumer electronics to Internet programming. So, while the desire fir an architecture-neutral programming language provided the initial spark, the Internet ultimately led to Java’s large-scale success.

As mentioned earlier, Java derives much of its character from C and C++. This is by intent. The Java designers knew that using the familiar syntax of C and echoing the object-oriented features of C++ would make their language appealing to the legions of experienced C/C++ programmers. In addition to the surface similarities, Java shares some of the other attributes that helped make C and C++ successful. First, java was designed, tested, and refined by real, working programmers. It is a language grounded in the needs and experiences of the people who devised it. Thus, Java is also a programmer’s language. Second, Java is cohesive and logically consistent. Third, except for those constraints imposed by the Internet environment, Java gives you, the programmer, full control. If you program well, your programs reflect it. If you program poorly, your programs reflect that, too. Put differently, Java is not a language with training wheels. It is a language for professional programmers.

Because of the similarities between Java and C++, it is tempting to think of Java as simply the “Internet version of C++.” However, to do so would be a large mistake. While it is true that Java was influenced by C++, it is not an enhanced version of C++. Java was not designed to replace C++. Java was designed to solve a certain set of problems. C++ was designed to solve a different set of problems. Both will coexist for many years. Java is to Internet programming what C was to system programming: a revolutionary force that will change the world.

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