Java is an object-orientated programming language. Any program written in Java and which is 100% Pure Java will work on any computer that has a Java Virtual Machine. Most types of computers and all the most widely used types of computers have a Java Virtual Machine available for them. You do not have to get different versions of the same application in order to run it on 2 different computers. For example, a Java program will work on a Mac, a Unix machine, and a Windows machine, as long as those machines have a JVM (Java Virtual Machine).
The Java compiler, Java Virtual Machine,
documentation, and Java tutorial is free and you can download them from
the
Sun Microsystems
website.
http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/
gui api you don't have to learn a new language
Java is object-orientated (I told you that
already), network-friendly, has fantastic error handling, is extremely
secure, is strongly-typed, handles CORBA, a int is 32 bits in size on every
machine, and you do not memory leaks like you do in C++.
On the downside, it seems to me that Java
programs take longer to load than programs which are not Java software
and are written to work only on that particular type of computer. This
does not really matter to most users of computers.
You can get Java applets which are programs that your browser runs. You can get a plug-in for your browser from Sun that will run Java applets.
There are Java applciations which are run by a Java Virtual Machine, not a browser.
There are Java servelets which can replace Perl scripts on a Web server.
The Java programming language was invented in the last 10 years and already 9% of programmers surveyed in a survey said Java was their favorite programming languge. The popularity of Java increases each year.
A Java API allows you to write a program which will do certain things. There are many APIs including, but not limited to the following...