Java
Java is a high-level, class-based, object-oriented programming language that is designed to have as few implementation dependencies as possible. It is a general-purpose programming language intended to let application developers write once, run anywhere (WORA), meaning that compiled Java code can run on all platforms that support Java without the need for recompilation. Java applications are typically compiled to bytecode that can run on any Java virtual machine (JVM) regardless of the underlying computer architecture.
History
1991: Java was initiated by James Gosling, Mike Sheridan, and Patrick Naughton as part of the Green Project at Sun Microsystems.
1995: Java 1.0 was released by Sun Microsystems, providing the first stable version of the language.
1997: Java 1.1 was released, introducing inner classes, JavaBeans, and JDBC.
1998: Java 2 (J2SE 1.2) was released, marking a significant update with the introduction of the Swing graphical API and the Collections framework.
2004: Java 5 (J2SE 5.0) was released, introducing generics, metadata, enumerated types, and the enhanced for loop.
2006: Sun Microsystems released Java as free and open-source software under the GNU General Public License (GPL).
2009: Oracle Corporation acquired Sun Microsystems, taking over the development of Java.
2011: Java 7 was released, introducing features like the try-with-resources statement and the diamond operator.
2014: Java 8 was released, introducing lambda expressions, the Stream API, and the new Date and Time API.
2017: Java 9 was released, introducing the module system (Project Jigsaw) and the JShell interactive tool.
2018: Java 10 and Java 11 were released, with Java 11 being a long-term support (LTS) release.
2021: Java 17 was released as the next LTS version, continuing the tradition of providing a stable and feature-rich platform for developers.
Java has continued to evolve with regular updates, maintaining its popularity and relevance in the software development industry.