Java is a programming language which is currently owned by Oracle.
Programming languages are the building blocks for communicating instructions to machines, without them the technology driven world we live in today wouldn’t exist.
Java is a general purpose high-level, object-oriented programming language.
Initially developed in 1991 under the name OAK, it was designed for handheld devices and set-top box, but with limited success the name was changed to Java and modified to be aimed at the then burgeoning World Wide Web.
Fast forward to today and Java is one of the most commonly used languages for developing and delivering content on the web. An estimated nine million Java developers use it and more than three billion mobile phones run it.
Java is an object-oriented language, which means that programmers define not only the data type of a data structure, but also the types of functions that can be applied to the data structure. It is similar in that way to C++ but has been simplified to eliminate language features that can cause common errors.
The aim of Java is to be easy to use, provide a high level of reliability and to also be secure. Security is built in as one of the foundations of the language due to it being designed for mobile devices that would be exchanging data across networks.
Content from our partners
