The Java item

Sep 16 23:16 UTC 2006

This is the Java item, for discussing the Java programming language from Sun.

Java has been touted as being a, "write once, compile once, run anywhere"
language and Java compilers compile to a bytecode representation that is then
interpreted by a virtual machine that provides a consistant execution
environment across platforms.

Java is an object oriented language and comes with a large library
implementing a number of object hierarchies.  It has been undergoing revision
since being released in the early 1990's and is generally considered a
comfortable language often compared to C++; early descriptions called it, "C++
with the bad parts removed" and indeed, it has eliminated many of the problems
of C++.

Java is trademarked by Sun, who licenses the technology to other companies.
An open source implementation exists in the GNU Compiler Collection.