Why does Java remain so popular?
By celebrating 28 years of success, Java language has been in the market for a long time. Sun Microsystems brought Java to the market in 1995, and currently, Oracle manages Java language.
Java is one of the strongest programming languages for creating prominent web apps and other technical platforms. With the passing years, Java has become a language of practical knowledge and facts.
Because of the popularity of Java programming, various organizations that belong to the group of Fortune 500 such as Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple depend on Java for their certain core functionalities.
In this blog, we will learn more about Java, and also the main reasons why Java is becoming more and more popular each day.
Let’s dive into the blog!
Java’s Diverse History
Did you know that Java is a widely used programming language that empowers everything from strong enterprise software apps?
Java was primarily made in 1990 by a developer working at Sun Microsystems named James Gosling while he was working on a project named Green Project. The Green project aimed to build software for controlling home gadgets and different consumer devices with the use of modern technology.
The first version was released back in 1995 and had a slogan called ‘Write Once, Run Anywhere’ (WORA) that encapsulates the ability of Java to work feasibly across the platforms.
The idea of WORA was made possible because of the JVM (Java Virtual Machine), a strong component allowing Java bytecode to run on different systems that have compatible JVM. The hardware and software configs do not matter until it has a JVM installed in it.
As the digital age has already taken off, Java language has solidified its functionalities by enabling the making of interactive and dynamic web content.
Java Applets demonstrated its potential to improve the UX using client-side interactivity. However, in 2006, the Oracle organization acquired Java from Sun Microsystems and promised continuous growth of Java.
Rather than occasional litigation and controversy over ownership and licensing, stars a strong ecosystem of tools, libraries, and frameworks.
Despite Java being in its 3rd decade, it is still one of the most well-known programming languages. It stays stable in everything from Android and web apps to server-side large-scale enterprise and server-side programming projects.
Now, let’s understand the popular features of Java that make this language popular.
Top Reasons of Why Java Remains Popular
Versatile
Java language is one of the most compatible languages that provides write-once-and-run-anywhere code.
The desktop and web apps fully have Java’s API. Different coding methods are used in Java because different concepts are more adaptable for different programmers.
Developers can easily make compatible and multi-functional apps using Java language. The CLASSPATH & PATH features of Java help in the easy management of network distribution across various platforms.
ML, IoT, NLP, and many advanced technologies work seamlessly by using the advanced development tools of Java. Its features like versatility, stability, and scalability make it one of the mostly used programming languages across the globe.
Moreover, Java language is used for the development of projects that can run on different devices such as desktops, mobiles, apps, and servers for large-scale organizations, etc. This language is gradually gaining credibility in different domains like IoT and Cloud development. Hence, it’s one of the best programming languages used by developers to develop business projects.
Java- User-Friendly Programming Language
Java’s code has English-like syntax. Hence, it is seamless to read and understand. So, for beginner developers, this feature makes it easier to learn Core Java and gradually learn Advanced Java.
As Java has an easy learning curve, if you have primary knowledge of C++ and C language, it won’t be time-consuming for you to learn Java.
While learning Java, there are two phases of learning- the first one is learning the core Java, and the second one is mastering the Advanced Java. This language boasts an easy learning path. James Gosling has said that Java is just like C++ but without clubs, guns, and knives.
It is said that if the developers are well-versed in C and CPP, learning and mastering Java becomes easier. And, because of its syntax mostly English syntax, beginner and skilled developers can easily understand and write the code in Java.
A strong user community
One of the strong reasons for using Java programming language is its robust and active user base which is ever-ready to provide support to fellow users.
Java has the second largest community amongst the Stack Overflow user base. Hence, it’s assured that you can depend on the Java community to help you whenever you get stuck while performing Java programming.
Java also provides some real-time solutions. It also escorts the businesses to solve the technical concerns using the communities like Java and Oracle community.
One of the well-known communities of Java is Stack Overflow. Many websites help beginners and developers by solving the doubts and issues they have already come across while programming.
The strong and assisting community suggests that Java is the most used language for software development.
Moreover, its community continues to expand. So, just like various open-source frameworks, Java also believes in giving proper support to the users. StackOverflow also involves Java experts who can help beginner Java developers solve their issues.
Java Provides Excellent Documentation
Java language is an open-source language which means it’s free to use.
Additionally, another excellent feature of this language is that this language has clear, well-structured, and easy-to-understand documentation. It comes with a detailed guide to solve the doubts that you might face while working with Java.
Javadoc is a help guide for you, so you can go through this guide whenever you need to clarify things during Java coding.
Whenever any future reference is required in Java, detailed documentation is necessary. It is because of the online support of the community and the growing significance of helping developers and companies in developing robust apps.
Java is used to develop basic, scientific, or even enterprise apps. And, solutions for the majority of queries that might arise while developing a smaller or bigger app are covered in the Java documentation. So, you can take your Java skill set to the next level using the excellent documentation of Java.
These are the primary grounds bases about why Java remains so popular even in today’s time. Now, let’s see some of the real-world Java use cases that are popular in today’s market.
Popular Use Cases of Java Programming Language
You might be thinking about where and when to use the Java programming language. Here’s a whole list of popular use cases of Java. These are some of the real-world domains where Java can be used. Ranging from fintech apps to eCommerce sites, startup apps to scientific and enterprise-level apps, and much more can be created using Java. Let’s see each one comprehensively.
- Banking and Financial Apps- Java language primarily promotes secure financial services. Various well-reputed banks like Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Standard Chartered, etc use Java for developing their server-side apps, front & back office trading systems, data processing projects, confirmation and settlement systems, etc.
- Big Data- Many technologies of Big data such as Java and Hadoop in one way or another. Some popular instances of Java-based technologies are Elasticsearch, Apache HBase, & Apache Accumulo.
- Android platform- Java has a strong role in developing Android apps. It helps in developing the business logic of the app that helps in the exchange of data from the Database to the user interface. It’s vital to have a deep knowledge of Java language while developing Android apps.
- Scientific apps and research community- Java is a safe, easy-to-maintain, and portable language that has qualitative concurrency tools. This has remained one of the best features that enhances the chances of developers picking Java as a default language for scientific app development.
- eCommerce and web app development- Java has given a modern outlook to this digital world. It provides high flexibility and safe programming and supports thousands of eCommerce apps today. Java has different inbuilt packs like Servlets, Struts, and JSPs. This streamlines the coding of enterprise web apps.
Final Verdict
Being platform-independent and providing portability are some of the main reasons behind the growing popularity of the Java programming language.
When you do a quick research on Java and different languages, you can see that Java has more functions than C#, C++, and different programming languages.
We hope that you have understood the reasons why Java is becoming more and more popular. There are plenty of more reasons, but these are some of the primary ones.
Bookmark us for further technical updates. Till then, happy reading!
