Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1:
THE HISTORY AND

EVOLUTION OF JAVA
OUTLINE:
Introduction
Before JAVA: C
Before JAVA: C++
Java History
Java Bytecode
The Java Buzzwords
Evolution of Java
INTRODUCTION
Computer language innovation and development
occurs for two fundamental reasons:
1) to adapt to changing environments and uses
2) To implement refinements and improvements
in the art of programming
The development of Java was driven by both in
equal measures.
Many Java features are inherited from the
earlier languages:
C  C++  Java
BEFORE JAVA: C
Designed by Dennis Ritchie in 1970s.
Before C: BASIC, COBOL, FORTRAN, PASCAL
C- structured, efficient, high-level language that

could replace assembly code when creating
systems programs.
Designed, implemented and tested by

programmers.
BEFORE JAVA: C++
Designed in 1979 initially called “C with Classes”.
Response to the increased complexity of programs
and respective improvements in the programming
paradigms and methods:
1) assembler languages
2) high-level languages
3) structured programming
4) object-oriented programming (OOP)
OOP – methodology that helps organize complex

programs through the use of inheritance,
encapsulation and polymorphism.
C++ extends C by adding object-oriented features.
JAVA: HISTORY
In 1990, Sun Microsystems started a project called
Green.
Objective: to develop software for consumer
electronics.
Project was assigned to James Gosling, a veteran of
classic network software design. Others included
Patrick Naughton, ChrisWarth, Ed Frank, and Mike
Sheridan.
The team started writing programs in C++ for
embedding into
– toasters
– washing machines
– VCR’s
Aim was to make these appliances more “intelligent”.
JAVA: HISTORY (CONTD.)
C++ is powerful, but also dangerous. The power and
popularity of C derived from the extensive use of
pointers. However, any incorrect use of pointers can
cause memory leaks, leading the program to crash.
In a complex program, such memory leaks are often

hard to detect.
Robustness is essential. Users have come to expect that

Windows may crash or that a program running under
Windows may crash. (“This program has performed an
illegal operation and will be shut down”).
In computer science, robustness is the ability of a

computer system to cope with errors during execution
and cope with erroneous input.
However, users do not expect toasters to crash,
or washing machines to crash.
A design for consumer electronics has to be

robust.
Replacing pointers by references, and

automating memory management was the
proposed solution.
Hence, the team built a new programming
language called Oak, which avoided potentially
dangerous constructs in C++ that can avoid
memory leaks.
Introduced automatic memory management,

freeing the programmer to concentrate on other
things.
Architecture neutrality (Platform independence)

Many different CPU’s are used as controllers.
Hardware chips are evolving rapidly.
As better chips become available, older chips

become obsolete and their production is stopped.
Manufacturers of toasters and washing

machines would like to use the chips available
off the shelf, and would not like to reinvest in
compiler development every two-three years.
So, the software and programming language had

to be architecture neutral.
JAVA: HISTORY (CONTD)
It was soon realized that these design goals of
consumer electronics perfectly suited an ideal
programming language for the Internet and
WWW, which should be:
 object-oriented (& support GUI)

robust
architecture neutral
Internet programming presented a BIG

business opportunity. Much bigger than
programming for consumer electronics.
Java was “re-targeted” for the Internet

JAVA: HISTORY (CONTD)
The team was expanded to include Bill Joy
(developer of Unix), Arthur van Hoff, Jonathan
Payne, Frank Yellin, Tim Lindholm etc.
In 1994, an early web browser called

WebRunner was written in Oak. WebRunner
was later renamed HotJava.
In 1995, Oak was renamed Java.
A common story is that the name Java relates to

the place from where the development team got
its coffee.
JAVA HISTORY (CONTD)
Designed by James Gosling, Patrick Naughton,
Chris Warth, Ed Frank and Mike Sheridan at
Sun Microsystems in 1991.
The original motivation was not Internet:
platform-independent software embedded in

consumer electronics devices was original
motto.
JAVA HISTORY (CONTD)
With Internet, the urgent need appeared to
break the fortified positions of Intel, Macintosh
and Unix programmer communities.
Java as an “Internet version of C++”? No.
Java was not designed to replace C++, but to

solve a different set of problems.
HOW JAVA CHANGED THE INTERNET
• Java Applets
• Security
• Portability
JAVA BYTECODE
Bytecode is the compiled format for Java programs.
Bytecode is a highly optimized set of instructions
designed to be executed by the Java run-time
system, which is called the Java Virtual Machine
(JVM).
Once a Java program has been converted to bytecode,
it can be transferred across a network and executed by
Java Virtual Machine (JVM).
Bytecode files generally have a .class extension.
JVM gives Security and Portability
Bytecode has been highly optimized  ?
Interpreted not compile  Just-In-Time (JIT) compiler
THE JAVA BUZZWORDS
The key considerations were summed up by
the Java team in the following list of
buzzwords:
 Simple
 Object-oriented
 Robust
 Secure
 Portable
 Multithreaded
 Architecture-neutral
 Interpreted
 High performance
 Distributed
 Dynamic
Simple – Java is designed to be easy for the
professional programmer to learn and use.
Object-oriented: a clean, usable, pragmatic approach

to objects, not restricted by the need for compatibility
with other languages.
Robust: restricts the programmer to find the mistakes

early, performs compile-time (strong typing) and run-
time (exception-handling) checks, manages memory
automatically.
Multithreaded: supports multi-threaded

programming for writing program that perform
concurrent computations
Architecture-neutral: Java Virtual Machine
provides a platform independent environment
for the execution of Java byte code
Interpreted and high-performance: Java

programs are compiled into an intermediate
representation – byte code:
a) can be later interpreted by any JVM
b) can be also translated into the native machine
code for efficiency.
Distributed:
 Java is designed for the distributed environment of
the Internet because it handles TCP/IP protocols. In
fact, accessing a resource using a URL is not much
different from accessing a file.
 Java also supports Remote Method Invocation (RMI).
This feature enables a program to invoke methods
across a network.
Dynamic: Java programs carry with them
substantial amounts of run-time type
information to verify and resolve access to
objects at run-time.
THE EVOLUTION OF JAVA
 Java 1.0
 Java 1.1
 Java 2  version 1.2  “2” indicates “second generation.”
 With Java 2, Sun repackaged the Java product as J2SE
 Added new features, such as Swing and the Collections Framework
 J2SE 1.3
 J2SE 1.4
 J2SE 5  major new features
 JDK 5 (developer version number) and J2SE5 (product version number)
 J2SE 6
 Java SE 7 (July 28, 2011)
 Java SE 8 (March 18, 2014)
 Java SE 9 (September 21, 2017)
 Java SE 10 (March, 20, 2018)
THE EVOLUTION OF JAVA
1. JDK Alpha and Beta (1995)
2. JDK 1.0 (23rd Jan 1996)
3. JDK 1.1 (19th Feb 1997)
4. J2SE 1.2 (8th Dec 1998)
5. J2SE 1.3 (8th May 2000)
6. J2SE 1.4 (6th Feb 2002)
7. J2SE 5.0 (30th Sep 2004)
8. Java SE 6 (11th Dec 2006)
9. Java SE 7 (28th July 2011)
10. Java SE 8 (18th March 2014)
11. Java SE 9 (21st Sep 2017)
12. Java SE 10 (20th March 2018)
Reference: https://www.javatpoint.com/history-of-java
DISCLAIMER
These slides are not original and have been prepared from various
sources for teaching purpose.
Sources:
Herbert Schildt, Java™: The Complete Reference
THANK YOU

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CHAPTER 1:

THE HISTORY AND

Designed by Dennis Ritchie in 1970s.

Before C: BASIC, COBOL, FORTRAN, PASCAL

C- structured, efficient, high-level language that

Designed, implemented and tested by

OOP – methodology that helps organize complex

In a complex program, such memory leaks are often

Robustness is essential. Users have come to expect that

In computer science, robustness is the ability of a

A design for consumer electronics has to be

Replacing pointers by references, and

Introduced automatic memory management,

Architecture neutrality (Platform independence)

As better chips become available, older chips

Manufacturers of toasters and washing

So, the software and programming language had

 object-oriented (& support GUI)

Internet programming presented a BIG

Java was “re-targeted” for the Internet

In 1994, an early web browser called

In 1995, Oak was renamed Java.

A common story is that the name Java relates to

The original motivation was not Internet:

platform-independent software embedded in

Java as an “Internet version of C++”? No.

Java was not designed to replace C++, but to

Object-oriented: a clean, usable, pragmatic approach

Robust: restricts the programmer to find the mistakes

Multithreaded: supports multi-threaded

Interpreted and high-performance: Java

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