Java (programming language)

Java is the name of a programming language created by Sun Microsystems. This company was bought out by Oracle Corporation, which continues to keep it up to date. It is designed to be platform-independent, which means that code written in Java can run on any device or operating system that has a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) installed. This makes Java a popular choice for developing cross-platform applications and games. Additionally, Java has a large and active community, and a wide range of libraries and frameworks available for use.^[1] As of March 2023^[update], Java 20 is the latest version (will be supported until September 2023), while Java 17, 11 and 8 are the current long-term support (LTS) versions. Being an LTS version means that it will continue getting updates for multiple years. The next planned LTS version is Java 21 (LTS), planned for September 2023.^[2]

Being an open-source platform, Java isn't just supported by Oracle, e.g. Eclipse Adoptium also supports Java (JVM), to at least May 2026 for Java 8, and at least September 2027 for Java 17.

Java, which was called Oak when it was still being developed, is object oriented, meaning it is based on objects that work together to make programs do their jobs. Java code looks similar to C, C++, or C#, but code written in those languages will not work in Java in most cases without being changed.^[3]

Java runs on many different operating systems, including Android, the world's most popular mobile operating system^[4] (while Java continues to be used on Android, even by its maker Google, they no longer prefer Java; now Kotlin is their preferred language, though it can also be used with all Java code). This makes Java platform independent. It does this by making the Java compiler turn code into Java bytecode instead of machine code. This means that when the program is executed, a Java Virtual Machine interprets (or just-in-time compiles) the bytecode.^[5]

Java is both a language, but its also a platform, and a number of languages compile to the same bytecode meant for that JVM platform, and can then work alone (without Java, the language, or with it). Google, that previously recommended Java, now recommends Kotlin language over Java for its Android platform, and it, like any JVM language, can also work with or without Java in all other contexts where Java alone would have been used.

High-profile JVM languages

• Java, a statically-typed object-oriented language
• Groovy, a dynamic programming language (also with static typing) and scripting language^[6]
• Kotlin, a statically-typed language from JetBrains, the developers of IntelliJ IDEA^[6] and Google's preferred language for Android
• Scala, a statically-typed object-oriented and functional programming language^[7]
• Clojure, a dynamic, and functional dialect of the Lisp programming language^[6] (ClojureScript is an implementation targeting the web with JavaScript, not the JVM.)

1. ↑ "20 Best Java Coding Websites in 2023 - codershot". 2023-01-15. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
2. ↑ "Oracle Java SE Support Roadmap". Oracle. 2021-09-13. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
3. ↑ "Java vs. C++: Which Language Is Right For Your Software Project?". Hiring | Upwork. 2016-12-21. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
4. ↑ "I want to develop Android Apps — What languages should I learn?". Android Authority. 2017-12-24. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
5. ↑ "How is Java platform independent? - GeeksforGeeks". GeeksforGeeks. 2017-06-23. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} Urma, Raoul-Gabriel (2014-07-01). "Alternative Languages for the JVM. A look at eight features from eight JVM languages". Oracle. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
7. ↑ Wampler, Dean (15 January 2009). "Adopting New JVM Languages in the Enterprise (Updated)". objectmentor.com. Archived from the original on 22 May 2009. Retrieved 18 June 2009.