CoreJava - Chapter 1: Introduction to Java

1.1 Java as a Programming Platform

• Java is not only a programming language, but also a platform

1.2 The Java "White Paper" Buzzwords

1. Simple 
   • Compared to C++
   • Small: 40k for the size of the basic interpreter and class support; 175k for the basic standard libarries and thread support
2. Object-Oritented
   • Comparable to C++
   • The major difference between Java and C++ lies in multiple inheritance, which Java has replaced with a simpler concept of interfaces
3. Distributed
   • Java has an extensive library of routines for coping with TCP/IP protocols like HTTP and FTP
4. Robust
   • Java puts a lot of emphasis on early checking for possible problems, later dynamic checking, and eliminating situations that are error-prone
   • The single biggest difference between Java and C/C++ is that Java has a pointer model that eliminates the possibility of overwriting memory and corrupting data
5. Secure
6. Architecture-Neutral
   • The complier generates an architecture-neutral object file format. The complied code is executable on many processors, given the presence of the Java runtime system
   • Q: What is the role of virtual machine in enabling the Architecture-Neutral feature in Java?
7. Portable
   • The size of primitive data type in Java is fixed
   • Binary data is stored and transmitted in a fixed format, eliminating confusion about byte ordering
   • Strings are saved in a standard Unicode format
8. Interpreted
   • Java interpreter can execute Java vytecodes directly on any machine to which the interpreter has been ported
   • Q: What is the role of linking in enabling the Interpreted feature in Java?
9. High-performance
   • A "just-in-time" compiler have become so good that they are competitive with traiditonal compilers
   • Q: What is the difference between "just-in-time" compilers and traditional compilers?
10. Multithreaded
    • Java is the first mainstream language to support concurrent programming
11. Dynamic
    • Libraries can freely add new methods and instance variables without any effect on their clients

1.3 Java Applets and the Internet

• Applets: Java programs that work on web pages are called applets; to use an applet, you only need a Java-enabled web brower

1.4 A Short History of Java

• Java was first released in 1996
• Java goes back to 1991, when a group of Sun engineers, led by Patrick Naughton and James Gosling, wanted t odesign a small computer language that could be used for consuer devices like cable TV switchboxes
• The Sun people came from a UNIX background, so they based their language on C++
• The Green Project 

1.5 Common Misconceptions about Java

• Java is an extension of HTML -> Java is a programming language; HTML is a way to describe hte structure of a web page
• I use XML, so I don't need Java -> Java is a programming language; XML is a way to describe data. You can process XML data with any programming language, but Java API contains excellent support for XML processing
• Java is proprietary, and should therefore be avoided -> When Java was first created, Sun gave free licenses to distribute and end users
• Java is interpreted, so it is too slow for serious applications -> In the early days of Java, the langauge was interpreted. Nowadays, the Java virtual machine uses a just-in-time compiler.