22 Years of Java The Language

/ July 13, 2017/ Backend

For twenty two years, Java is still up and running. A new Java 9 is coming this September. It only shows that it is still one of the top programming language today. It is still one of the programming languages taught in schools. And it is still one of the programmers’ language.

Universities are usually years behind the industry trends when adopting programming languages for their curriculum. At Stanford University, Java was adopted in 2002, seven years after it was released and three years after it already became extremely popular.

The goals of its creation may still hold until today:

1. simple, object-oriented, familiar
2. robust and secure
3. architecture-neutral and portable
4. high performance
5. interpreted, threaded, and dynamic

Java is best suited for complex (multi-threaded) business systems. Over time, programmers have listed four things they believe why the language stayed on:

1. Android development

Android covers 82% of the smartphone market all over the world and Android development platform relies on Java-run apps and infrastructure.

2. Unparalleled reliability, performance, and speed.

Internet users want speed and real-time information at an instant. These have become a necessity. This programming language has established superior tools for writing, maintaining, and debugging code. Together with a JVM (Java Virtual Machine) language, it remains as one for the fastest implementation combinations. For example, various development environments like Eclipse or NetBeans have made it easy to write Java.

3. Tech giants support Java

Google, IBM, Oracle, Facebook, eBay — these big tech corporations use Java in their systems. It is also deeply rooted in media, banks, and government computer systems. The Java platform is and will be the enterprise platform of the future.

4. Backward compatibility

Java is a fantastic server-side language, heavily used by enterprises for many reasons, including rock-solid backwards compatibility; cross-platform support (in terms of operating systems); and the very large pool of Java developers (from junior to extremely experienced) that are available to hire. The language has become malleable for developers, a preferred choice, and a popular one that won’t retire yet.

These only show that Java has become mature and battle-tested that its frameworks have transformed it into a platform than a language.

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