Is Java in Your Future?

by Mark Davis

Everyone in the computer industry knows that hype and self-promotion are the rule, not the exception. It seems that every time you open a computer magazine, there's a new technology or product that's being pushed as the "next big thing". Take the Java programming language, for instance. Only a few years ago, nobody had heard of it. Today, though, it and the Internet are two of the biggest forces in the industry. Is Java really all that important, or is it another example of wishful thinking by its supporters (who hope to use it to take over the industry)?
To understand the importance of Java, one must understand just what Java was designed to do. Java was invented by Sun Microsystems in 1991, and was originally designed to develop software for consumer electronics products such as TV's and VCR's. It languished in obscurity for several years until Sun developed an Internet Web browser called HotJava. HotJava demonstrated how Java could be used to develop small programs called applets, which could then be easily downloaded and executed on the user's local machine. Once this capability was demonstrated, interest in Java skyrocketed. Soon, both Netscape and Internet Explorer (the two most popular Web browsers in the market) added Java support, Java development tools such as Symantec's Visual Café and Microsoft's Visual J++ were created, and scores of Java applets and other programs began to be written in the new language.
Why such interest in a new programming language? Well, Java has a number of unique features in its favor. First of all, it is an offshoot of the C++ programming language, which has been the standard language used by most software developers to create programs for at least the last 10 years or so. Thus, it's easy for most developers to learn. Secondly, Java was designed as a simpler version of C++, with many of the more arcane features of C++ (such as pointers) removed. Again, this makes Java easier to learn and program in. Thirdly, Java is a platform-independent language. As long as your Web browser or operating system supports Java, you can run a Java program without having to worry about what platform it was originally written on. This again makes things easier for developers, who only have to write one Java program that'll then run on everything, rather than having to write "a Windows version" or a "Macintosh version". Finally, Java is an object-oriented language. This means that developers can easily reuse objects and modules created for one Java application in other Java apps without having to rewrite or modify them first, thereby saving a lot of time and effort on the programmer's part.
Java also has a number of advantages when it comes to the Internet. Since Java can create small yet powerful applets that can be easily downloaded and executed in a Web browser, it's easy to use it to add capabilities and features not possible in the HTML language used in Web pages. All downloaded Java applets are executed in a virtual machine in the Web browser that runs as a separate run-time process from the rest of the user's operating system. The virtual machine examines all Java byte codes in a Verifier to first insure that they will not violate Java's built-in security features (such as not being able to access or modify files on the host machine) before they are executed. An Applet Class Loader also insures that an applet will not modify or replace portions of the Java run-time environment, which could give it the ability to directly access the host PC. A Security Manager also examines Java code as it runs and can prevent suspicious operations from executing. These security measures provide the user with a high degree of protection from viruses or other malicious code that could damage their computer or allow access to sensitive data. These characteristics of Java helped to fuel interest in the language as the Internet itself has become more and more popular.
So, will you be seeing more of Java in the future? Most definitely! Even as I write this article, Java is evolving with new features such as the addition of database connectivity to make it even more powerful. Many people don't realize that Java is now being used to develop larger applications as well as the small applets that are used on the Web. Corel, for example, is creating a version of their office suite that is written entirely in Java. They hope to use it to capture part of the new market for software that can be downloaded from a server and executed on a Network Computer. Network Computers have no local hard drives or other storage media such as floppies, so all data and applications must be downloaded from the network they are attached to before they can be used. Java is an ideal language for creating such network applications (which must be small in size to minimize download times, yet be powerful enough to provide the functions needed to get the job done). Other vendors are busy building Java support directly into their operating systems (IBM has already done so with OS/2 Warp 4). Even Microsoft has embraced Java after some initial resistance. In any case, Java in some form is definitely here to stay and will be an important part of computing for years to come!

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