Introduction
Hello everyone! This year is going by fast. Being a senior, the last year ended with college applications deadlines. School has been pretty busy too. Now that I am done with all college apps, got a couple of acceptances and settled in the new semester, here I am writing a blog post after a little hiatus. Today, I want to introduce you to the programming language that I am currently learning in my AP Computer Science A course—Java. A fun fact is that Minecraft was originally written in Java! This post will serve as a basic introduction rather than an in-depth dive into the language.
What is Java?
Java is an object-oriented programming language developed by Sun Microsystems in 1995. It is widely used in various fields, including mobile app development, web applications, enterprise software, and game development. Java is a great language for beginners and professionals alike.
Java Features
- Platform independent: An advantage of Java is that its programs can run on any operating system, allowing a wider range of access among users. Operating systems are system software that manage your computer, an example being Windows. As long as the device has a Java Virtual Machine, it will be able to run Java programs.
- Object-oriented: Java is an object-oriented language, which means it’s organized around objects and classes. This improves the organization and reusability of the code. Although I won’t go into much detail on these today, these are fundamental concepts of these programs.
- Reliability and security: Java detects errors early on, reducing the chances of runtime issues. Java also has built-in security features such as bytecode verification and the sandbox environment, making it harder to exploit security vulnerabilities. Bytecode verification ensures that valid code is run, preventing bugs during runtime. The sandbox environment is where code can be tested in a secure area to make sure it works.
Important Terms
- Java Virtual Machine (JVM): This is what allows programs to run on any operating system. It acts as an interpreter between the Java language and hardware of the computer itself. It takes the bytecode, which is generated by the Java compiler, and runs/executes it by converting it into machine code.
- Java Runtime Environment (JRE): This is the software that’s required for Java programs to run correctly. It communicates between the program and the operating system. It also has other tools to improve your programs.
- Java Development Kit (JDK): It includes all of the tools needed to run a program, like a compiler, JRE, and debugger.
Conclusion
Java is a great language for beginners to learn because of its simple structure and syntax. However, since the first language that I learned was Python, it took me a while to get used to the slightly more difficult syntax of Java. Learning Java can help in building applications as well as understanding fundamental programming concepts in other languages. In future posts, I will dive into the details of Java and introduce you all to the syntax, data types, and object-oriented programming.
Sources
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/introduction-to-java/#history-of-java