Computers have been around for many years. When someone uses a computer and its software, there is a big chance that they do not think about all of the work and lines of code that went into making that computer function the way that it does. Computers cannot operate unless they have something that tells them what to do. This starts with the programmer who uses code to tell the computer what to do when certain criteria meet the requirements for that certain action. If you make a simple program that is about fifty to one hundred lines of code, any programming language might seem to be good for the job. When you make a very complex program that has many layers and classes that are thousands of lines of code each, you need a more powerful and easier language to program in. Java is one of these easier and more powerful languages that can be used for many different programming tasks.
Computer programming goes back over fifty years when computers would take up whole rooms. In 1945, John Von Neumann had an idea that computers could be controlled and manipulated with programs that would be made to run in the system memory (Hayes). Before this idea, computers had to be controlled with wires that would be "patched" between different connectors which would in turn make the computer do certain tasks (Hayes). This could be considered the first kind of programming language. Fortran was one of the first high level programming languages and was developed in 1954 (Hayes). Flow-Matic was a language that was developed in the late 1950's and helped make way for Cabol (Hayes). In 1964, PL/I was developed and it contained elements of Fortran, Cabol, and Algol. Using elements of other languages in one language would be a growing trend for many more languages to come and it has helped programming languages of today to be a lot more powerful (Hayes).
These transitions between languages have led to the Java programming language. Java is a unique language because it can be ran on many different platforms which computer languages before it could only run on one platform. This makes it possible for a program to be made in Linux and then transferred to a Windows machine and ran with no problems. Java, in turn, is a good language to use in making online applications that can be ran between many different platforms since not everyone using the internet have the same operating system. In order for a machine to run a program that was written in Java, all it has to have a java runtime machine.
The Java computer programming language is constantly expanding (Coffee). Java uses many elements of the C++ programming language, but in a way that makes it less complex and easier to use. C++ has been around for many more years than Java and is from the days when programming languages were a lot more complex. C++ was one of the first languages to incorporate object oriented design which helps make programming easier. Java borrows this concept from C++ (Coffee). Java has excluded many parts of the C++ programming language that did not really help programmers because they just lead to programmer error because they are so complex (Coffee). When Java was developed, the designers designed it so that it could compile the code a lot faster than C++. This design has lead to Java code being compiled in about half the time that C++ code is compiled (Coffee).
Recently, a new programming language called C#, which is pronounced C Sharp, was developed, which resembles Java a lot. It has been called "Java with an 'off' switch" (Coffee). This means that programmers can make bad code on purpose if they believe it might help the overall program design in the long run. If this was done with a different programming language such as C++ or C, the whole program would crash and it could be full of errors that would not let the program run that are called bugs (Coffee). With the way C# is made, a programmer is able to make the program not crash when there is an intentional error in the code, so that the program can better operate the way the programmer needs it to operate (Coffee).
Sun Microsystems has recently announced that the source code for Java would be openly available to anyone who wanted it (Lacy). Programmers have been trying to get Sun to release the source code to Java for many years (Lacy). The release of the source to Java to anyone who wanted to download it on the internet is another leap forward for the Java programming language. This will bring the language to the front of the pack once again. This is so important because thousands of programmers can team up together to help make the Java programming language better. They will not have to wait for Sun Microsystems to make an update to Java, but can instead rely on thousands of others who use the programming language everyday and know what needs to be done to the language to make it easier and more powerful (Lacy). This is also a good way for programmers to become interested in using the Java programming language for their needs since they will be able to modify it for themselves (Lacy).
The ability for the Java programming language to change is a big difference between it and other languages like C++. C++ is still the same as it was when it was released for the first time. This could help Java stay around for a lot longer time since it will have the ability to change over time as programmers need it to change (Lacy). Without the open source, Java would eventually get too old for future machines and could not keep up with the changing styles of programming. If Fortran was like Java, it is possible that it could still be in wide use today, but few people still use it as a programming language to make actual programs. Another benefit of Java being open source to thousands of programmers is that now Sun Microsystems will not have to pay over a hundred million dollars a year to engineers to change Java for them. The programmers will do all the work (Lacy).
In conclusion, Java is a very important language to modern programmers. It is a step forward from older programming languages like C++ and C. It has the ability to change over time so it will possibly be around for a long time. With the release of the source of Java from Sun Microsystems, it will continue to change at a rapid rate since many programmers will be able to change the source as they need it to change. Sun Microsystems will also benefit from this release of the source code since they will not have to spend millions to try to update the source themselves. Java has also been the leading programming language to allow programmers to make programs that can be ran on many different machines and platforms without having to change the code and the way the programs are made. This is a great benefit because it allows the Java programming language to be used by a greater number of people since it is so easy for it to be transferred from system to system.
Works Cited
Coffee, Peter. "Java's new lines." eWeek 20.26 (30 June 2003): 70. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA. 20 August 2007. .
Hayes, Frank. "The Story So Far." Computerworld 36.21 (20 May 2002): 28. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA. 20 August 2007. . Lacy, Sarah. "Sun: Brew-It-Yourself Java?." Business Week Online (05 July 2006): 18-18. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO.
Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA. 20 August 2007.
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