What is Java? Easily explained
For some programs on your PC you need a Java installation. In this practical tip you can read what exactly Java is and what you need Java for.
What is the Java programming language?
Java is primarily a programming language that students often learn in computer science classes.
- The Java brand is owned by Sun Microsystems, which was acquired by Oracle in 2010.
- With a programming language in general, you can formulate programs and determine their behavior. For example, you can program your own pocket calculator with a few lines of text code.
- Java appeared in its first version in 1995 and, together with C, is one of the most famous programming languages worldwide.
- The Java language belongs to the group of object-oriented programming languages. This means that the written programs are structured in classes and objects.
- For example, an object of the Ball class can be created. This determines the properties of a ball: for example, it has a diameter and a color. A concrete object is a realization of the class, for example a tennis ball with the diameter "6.7 cm" and the color "yellow".
- Version 8 of Java is currently available and is constantly being expanded.
- Java was mainly influenced by the programming languages C ++, C # and Objective-C.
- Web applications, desktop applications and apps are primarily programmed with Java. For example, apps for Google's Android operating system are developed in Java.
What is Java technology and what do I need it for?
Java technology consists of three main elements:
- The first element is the Java programming language explained above, for actually programming the programs, in human-understandable code.
- The second element is the Java Development Kit (JDK), a tool that contains, for example, the compiler. This converts your program code into a machine-understandable code, the so-called Java byte code.
- The third element is the Java runtime environment. Here you can run your programs previously programmed and translated with Java.
- The bytecode is not executed with the hardware of the computer, but with software. A program can run on any computer architecture if a Java runtime environment is installed there.
- For example, the game Minecraft was developed using the Java programming language. That's why you need to install the Java runtime environment before you can run Minecraft.
- Java runtime environments for Windows, Linus, OS X and Solaris are available from Oracle. However, each manufacturer can develop their own runtime environments. So Java can also be used in cars and hi-fi systems.
In addition to Java, there is also Javascript. You can find out exactly what the differences between Java and Javascript are in another practical tip.