Undoubtedly, Java has been the most famous and widely used programming language out there. Not 1, or 2 but, today it covers almost every sector in the market. The reason is its adaptive nature and platform independence. By 2022, Java has already entered its 27th Anniversary and there’s no looking back for the love and support that it has gained from the developers around the world. Although there is a number of programming languages, Java is among the best choice when it comes to reliability in the software development field. Back in 1995, James Gosling, creator of Java at Sun Microsystems would never have imagined how far this will go and what would be the scope of Java in the future. Today, no matter, if you’re a fresher or experienced, this language, is definitely going to stick around with you for at least a while.
So, if you really think you know all about Java, we would suggest you think harder because today we’re going to explore those top 7 things you didn’t know about JAVA that will be relatable for both advanced and beginner programmers.
1. A perfect way to start coding – JAVA Programming
Those who have just started their journey in coding will always be asked to start with Java. Why is it so? The reason is, that Java is known as the most diligent and sophisticated language. Initially, when we start coding, we often make mistakes and try out to code, compile and execute, but the best way to differentiate it is by saying “Debugging and Fetching out errors” are much more comfortable than what you can get in C or C++.
Its syntax is much easier to read, and it’s good to read the concepts of object-oriented programming and that’s what makes it a perfect programming language to start coding.
2. Born Coincidently
Java has almost three decades of history as of now and was initially created to program the digital television industry (such as setup box) but ended up becoming the high-end programming language. Surprisingly, when James Gosling was working on the setup box integration language, he started cleaning up the C++ and that’s where Oaks (earlier JAVA was named Oaks) was born. It gave a new runtime and syntaxes that gave hope to the founder that it could change the way of programming that we used to see earlier. The name “Oaks” was the initial thought of the founder because he used to stare at an Oak tree that was right in front of his office but due to trademark issues (at that time, a computer company was already there by the same name), so he later decided to change its name to JAVA in 1996.
However, there were a few more considerations at the time SILK and DNA were also on the list but at last, they ended up making their favorite drink i.e. Coffee as their logo and named it JAVA.
3. Leads among “Fortune 500”
As time passes by, Java became stronger in the last few decades. There’s no surprise that Java is everywhere today not only for the small and medium scale industries but 90% of the “Fortune 500” companies are using Java within their system to uplift their scalability. With the growing age of AI & ML, Java has rapidly gained much popularity in IoT as well. The Java community has been consistently growing and it has surpassed 10 Million active developers worldwide and that’s a huge number (bigger than the population of several countries like UAE, Israel, and Hungary). As per a recent survey, it was found that its popularity has clinched 2nd position globally leaving behind Objective C, Kotlin, PHP, C, etc.
4. Among the Highest-Paid Programming Language
Yes, you heard it right. Java has become so popular due to its robust nature, companies have adopted this programming language so well and even it has generated the highest number of jobs in the tech industry. Companies like Netflix, Spotify, LinkedIn, Amazon, and many other giants are relying on java today. Not only this, you remember the world-class indie computer game i.e. Minecraft, which too is built upon Java Programming Language. Besides this, the average salary bracket of java developers falls between INR 5-6 LPA in India and USD 80k-90k per annum in the USA and that’s what makes it more demanding than other programming languages even after so many years every beginner wishes or being asked to learn Java first (because they know the career scope is much better than any other technology).
5. Packed up with Unique Features
With its vast user community and support, Java comes with powerful features that make it even more interesting and class apart than others. Some of them are:
- Simple and Secured: To ensure a safe and reliable code, java offers multiple safeguards. Besides this, to prevent any system crash, Java offers exception handling for those logical errors.
- Performance: Within the architecture of Java, its concept of multithreading enhances the speed of Java programming.
- Dynamic: Unlike C programming, functions in Java programming are only loaded when called which prevents memory wastage.
These are a few of the reasons why Java programming language is “old” yet “in demand” after decades and with the growing pace, hundreds and thousands of queries are being posted and resolved by contributors every day.
6. Is it Really Object-Oriented?
There have been debates about whether Java is object-oriented or not? Well, there are only eight qualities that have to satisfy for being an object-oriented language. Those are:
- Abstraction
- Polymorphism
- Encapsulation
- Inheritance
- Objects
- Class
- Aggregation
- Composition
If you’ll go deeper, Java has 8 primitive data types (such as char, byte, short, etc.) and that’s not an object which is absurd for naming it as an object-oriented language and the interesting thing is that these data types can be used without using any objects.
Besides this, being static in nature, Java contains both static variables and methods, which can be accessed by the user without using any objects.
“This directly states that you can declare a class as “static” without using an object.”
The nature of object-oriented programming language has been defined by 4 major, and 7 to 8 general categories and we have been calling Java an object-oriented language but the reasons we’ve just discussed above are indicated oppositely.
*Note: To read about this, refer to the article: OOPS concept in Java
7. Write Once Run Anywhere, Seriously?
Java has been built in such a way that it is not limited to any particular platform. So how does this work? Well, Java has its own special intermediate format known as a bytecode which enables the Java programming into neutral in nature. When we say neutral, it indicates platform independence, which is also known as architecture-neutral or WORA (write once run anywhere). This means that whether you’re using Linux, Windows, or any other operating system where Java Compiler is available, it will throw the same output (credibility goes to bytecode here) for which Java Virtual Machine or JVM is available.
How does it work?
Java has been divided into 2 segments in order to achieve the architectural neutral phase, these are:
- Introduction of bytecode for executing the program with the help of this mediator
- The bytecode now interprets and generates the desired output no matter what operating system you’re working on
Let’s take an example here:
Suppose you’re about to execute a program written on java, so first of all, you need to COMPILE the java program using the javac command. After compiling the program, there will be two instances, either your program will be successfully compiled or it will have some error.
Now, let’s say if your program goes successfully in compilation, a new extension will be created by the name of .class (generated by the bytecode)
So, the final step of this java program would be to take this forward to EXECUTE, and the .class file will go into the same phase by using the java command. (here .class is an architectural neutral irrespective of the file compilation)
Conclusion
These are the factors that have made it possible to reach among the best of the best even after almost three decades when the market has become more competitive. Undoubtedly, there can be much more reasons and facts that you didn’t know about Java but we tried to compile some of the most interesting 7 things you didn’t know about Java. Besides this, it’s a great programming language to learn and start your career in development.
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