About Java Software
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Java (tm)
is a
simple,
robust,
dynamic,
multi-threaded,
general-purpose,
object-oriented,
platform-independent
programming environment,
created and developed by
Sun Microsystems.
Developers can write custom mini-applications called applets,
which will provide Internet sites with a huge range of new
functionality: animation, live updating, two-way interaction, and more.
When integrated into Web pages,
Java applets allow expert graphics rendering,
real-time interaction with users, live information updating,
and instant interaction with servers over the network.
Java applets are downloadable from any server and run safely on any
platform.
Java applets allow cross-platform programmability and can be
embedded right into HTML pages.
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Client/Server Processing
In classical web applications, the onus of processing it completely
on the server side - where it often is not most appropriate, and
significant overhead is expended in frequent user communication and
keeping track of who has done what - "maintaining state".
Java browsers can download and execute applications
rather than just retrieving HTML documents,
putting the processing where it naturally belongs.
Classical applications also constrain the information provider to
a limited set of data formats ("MIME types") according to the
helper applications (viewers) a user has installed
or requiring the user to download and install new viewers.
Smart browsers will be able to learn how to deal with new
protocols and data formats dynamically.
Information providers will be able to take advantage of proprietary
data formats because the browser can be instructed how to
deal with them.
Platform Independence
It has an architecture-neutral distribution format
- compiled Java code runs on any CPU architecture.
Java's foundation is the Virtual Machine.
Instead of creating machine dependent code,
the Java compiler creates an intermediate "byte code" format.
Security
Java is designed to provide maximum security on public networks,
with multiple safeguards against viruses, tampering, and other threats.
Java is like a version of C++ where you can't cause any damage.
It is as functional as C and as modular and object oriented as C++.
One can think of Java as a simplified, safe,
and portable version of C++.
Whereas C++ will let you trash memory, Java is more watchful.
It also takes care of "garbage collection."
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