Java is a general-purpose programming language that was first released in 1995 by Sun Microsystems (now owned by Oracle Corporation). The language was designed by James Gosling, Patrick Naughton, Chris Warth, Ed Frank, and Mike Sheridan at Sun Microsystems.
The development of Java began in the early 1990s, when a team of Sun Microsystems engineers, known as the Green Team, were tasked with developing a language that could be used to program consumer electronics devices. The team was led by James Gosling, who had previously worked on the design of the NeWS window system at Sun.
Initially, the language was called "Oak," but it was later renamed "Java" after the team was inspired by the name of a coffee shop near their office. The team also designed the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), which allowed Java programs to be executed on any platform that had a JVM installed.
Java gained popularity quickly due to its "write once, run anywhere" philosophy, which meant that Java programs could be written on one platform and executed on any other platform that had a JVM installed, without the need for any modifications.
In 1995, Sun Microsystems released the first version of Java, which included the Java Development Kit (JDK) and the Java Runtime Environment (JRE). The release of Java was a significant milestone in the history of computing, as it marked the first time that a programming language had been designed specifically for the Internet.
Since its initial release, Java has evolved significantly. Sun Microsystems continued to develop Java until it was acquired by Oracle Corporation in 2010. Oracle now maintains and updates Java, and the language remains one of the most widely used programming languages in the world. Java is used in a variety of applications, including web development, mobile app development, and enterprise software development.
Here's a brief history of Java release versions:JDK 1.0 (January 23, 1996): This was the first official release of Java and included the Java virtual machine, Java class libraries, and Java compiler.
JDK 1.1 (February 19, 1997): This release included several new features, such as JavaBeans, RMI (Remote Method Invocation), and JDBC (Java Database Connectivity).
Java 2 (December 8, 1998): This release introduced the new Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI), Java Foundation Classes (JFC), and the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE).
JDK 1.3 (May 8, 2000): This release included the new Java Sound API, Java Naming and Directory Interface enhancements, and support for the HotSpot virtual machine.
JDK 1.4 (February 6, 2002): This release included several new features, such as assert keyword, regular expressions, and the Java Web Start technology.
JDK 5.0 (September 30, 2004): This release introduced several new language features, such as generics, annotations, autoboxing, and enhanced for loop.
Java SE 6 (December 11, 2006): This release included several new features, such as scripting language support, JDBC 4.0, and improved Web Service support.
Java SE 7 (July 28, 2011): This release introduced several new features, such as improved exception handling, support for dynamic languages, and the Fork/Join framework.
Java SE 8 (March 18, 2014): This release included several new features, such as lambda expressions, the Stream API, and the Date and Time API.
Java SE 9 (September 21, 2017): This release introduced several new features, such as modularization, JShell, and improved garbage collection.
Java SE 10 (March 20, 2018): This release included several new features, such as type inference for local variables and the ability to run a single-file program.
Java SE 11 (September 25, 2018): This release introduced several new features, such as support for HTTP/2 and TLS 1.3, and updates to the garbage collector.
Java SE 12 (March 19, 2019): This release included several new features, such as switch expressions and improvements to the garbage collector.
Java SE 13 (September 17, 2019): This release introduced several new features, such as text blocks and improvements to the garbage collector.
Java SE 14 (March 17, 2020): This release included several new features, such as pattern matching for instanceof and records.
Java SE 15 (September 15, 2020): This release introduced several new features, such as sealed classes and interfaces and hidd
Java SE 16 (March 16, 2021): This release included several new features, such as records and pattern matching for switch.
Java SE 17 (September 14, 2021): This release introduced several new features, such as preview features for sealed classes, pattern matching for switch, and records.
