Oracle and community celebrate 20 years of Java

• ‘Write once, run anywhere’ programming language first developed by Sun
• Java powers seven billion devices and 9mil developers use it, says Oracle

MAY 21 marked the 20th anniversary of the Java programming language, the class-based and object-oriented general-purpose ‘write once, run anywhere’ computer programming language first developed by Sun Microsystems Inc.
 
From innovations in enterprise big data, cloud, social, mobile and the Internet of Things, to connected cars, smartphones and video games, Java continues to help developers push the boundaries in technology innovation, said Oracle Corp, which acquired Sun Microsystems in 2010.
 
“Java has grown and evolved to become one of the most important and dependable technologies in our industry today. Those who have chosen Java have been rewarded many times over with increases in performance, scalability, reliability, compatibility, and functionality,” said Georges Saab, vice president of development at the Java Platform Group at Oracle.
 
“The Java ecosystem offers outstanding libraries, frameworks, and resources to help programmers from novice to expert alike. The development of Java itself occurs in the transparent OpenJDK community.
 
“With the considerable investment from Oracle and others in the community, we look forward to the next 20 years of Java’s evolution and growth,” he added.
 
Introduced in 1995, Java is the programming language of choice for nine million developers and today powers seven billion devices, Oracle said in a statement.
 
Improving road and air safety, collecting information from the world’s oceans for science applications, increasing grain crop quality and quantifying to help feed the hungry, simulating the human brain and musculoskeletal system, and gaming are some of the intriguing projects worldwide that use the Java technology, the company said.
 
Enterprise developers can choose from an ecosystem of 30 Java EE 6 and Java EE 7 compatible implementations from 12 vendors.
 
Additionally, more than 125 million Java-based media devices have been deployed and over 10 billion Java Cards have been shipped since Java’s introduction.
 
“Fujitsu recognised the utility of Java in IT systems as soon as it first became available, and even now we are working to promote its applications,” said Yasushi Fujii, vice president of the Application Management Middleware Division at Fujitsu Ltd.
 
“In the future, ICT, mobile and cloud technologies will deepen the relationships between people and between individuals and companies, helping to create a society that is ever more ‘human-centric’ in nature,” he added.
 
“IBM is celebrating Java’s 20th anniversary as one of the most important industry-led programming platforms spanning mobile, client and enterprise software platforms,” said Harish Grama, vice president of Middleware Products at IBM Systems.
 
“IBM began its commitment to Java at its inception over two decades ago, and has seen the Java ecosystem and developer community bring unsurpassed value to the investments our clients have made in their Java based solutions,” he added.
 
New releases
 
Under the stewardship of Oracle, two major platform releases including Java 7 and Java 8 have been delivered, with Java 9 slated for 2016.
 
The Java Community Process (JCP) serves as an integral element of community participation in the ongoing evolution of the technology.
 
The OpenJDK Community, the place to collaborate on an open-source implementation of the Java Platform, Standard Edition, is continuously attracting new contributors to its already broad base of participation, Oracle said.
 
In March 2014, Oracle announced availability of Java SE 8 after receiving final approval in the Java Community process.
 
This release, which included the largest upgrade to the Java programming model since the platform was introduced in 1995, was developed collaboratively in the OpenJDK Community.
 
Soon after, in April 2014, the Java Platform, Micro Edition 8 (Java ME 8) and the related releases of Oracle's Java Embedded products were also made available after final approval in the Java Community Process.
 
With a consistent Java 8 platform across embedded devices, desktops, data centres and the cloud, customers can deploy applications faster; process and analyze in-flight data; and act on events as quickly as they occur, Oracle claimed.
 
The next era of Java
 
Oracle said it and the Java community are now focused on delivering new innovations in Java 9. The key planned feature of this release is Project Jigsaw, which aims to modularise the platform in order to make it scalable to a wider range of devices, make it easier for developers to construct and maintain libraries and large applications, and improve security, maintainability, and performance.
 
Other features slated for Java 9 include the Java Shell, an interactive tool for evaluating snippets of Java code; a new HTTP client API to support HTTP/2 and Web Sockets; a port to the ARM AArch64 architecture on Linux; and a variety of updates to existing APIs (application programming interfaces) along with some significant performance improvements.
 
“Java directly or indirectly touches just about every human on this planet. It is the glue that allows mobile health and banking in remote areas of the world, entertains millions with games such as Minecraft, and drives the economic engine of our global markets,” said Martijn Verburg, co-leader of Java User Group, London.
 
To commemorate 20 years of Java, Oracle Certification is offering a 20% discount on all Java certification exams. The offer available globally is now open through Dec 31, 2015.  Candidates must provide promotional code Java20 at the time of registration. For details, visit here.
 
Visit the Duke’s Choice Award winners to see the work being done today by the Java community.
 
For a full timeline of key developments and milestone’s in Java’s 20-Year history, please visit here.
 
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