On 23 May 1995,
Java was officially accepted as real and was to be incorporated into Netscape Navigator. At that time, the entire Java technology team, not yet a division, numbered less than 30 people.
How it started
In early 1990s a small group at Sun Microsystems was given the opportunity to think and come up with �the next big thing in technology�. And when they created a hardware independent software platform, no one imagined it would change the world.
A technology that, but for a few twists of fate, might never have happened. What first started of as demo for set-top boxes (StarSeven) for cable TVs that never took off; was then demonstrated at a Hollywood gathering. The HotJava browser that was demonstrated ran animations of line sorting algorithms and 3D molecule
applets. Seeing no commercial deals closing, the team released the code for free on the Internet. Developers by thousands (more than 10K downloads a day) started using the programming language, now called Java, for network applications.
Present
Java offers wora (write-once-run-anywhere) portability, application security model, ubiquitous distribution and enterprise connectivity.
A lot of synergistic things have happened in Internet and enterprise technology in the last few years, and these are just the beginning: JDK, the sandbox, applets, thousands of Java technology-oriented startups, thousands of books on Java technology, JavaBeans architecture, Java Studio, Netscape Communicator, thousands of Internet service providers, millions of Internet users, 56K and cable modems, electronic commerce,
servlets, Java Foundation Classes, Enterprise JavaBeans components, Java on Mobiles, RTSJ on NASA�s Mars mission, and commitments from major players such as IBM, among others.
At one time Sun was the sole driving force behind Java, but opening of the Java Community Process has allowed other companies to contribute and collaboratively decide on ever widening areas such as web services, embedded, mobile, publishing, security and the language itself.
Glimpse into the future
Rocky 7, of the Mars Mission, uses Real Time Specification for Java (RTSJ). This is true end-to-end use of Java, from the ground systems controlling the devices to the little Rocky 7 strolling Mars..
GPS adapters in phone using Web services to access real-time application over phone networks, eliminating need for updates to maps or points of interests (places and routes).
Java implementation coverage includes: Grid Computing (Sun Grid), handwriting recognition (on HMM), virtualization, robotics (Robotic Dune Buggy - Tommy), patient monitoring (Bi-Fi), future combat systems (using JXTA), aiding trauma centers (using JOONE neural frameworks). Offering on
J2EE include: SEAM, SOA, Derby, Persistence APIs, BPEL integration & WEB 2.0. Offerings on Mobile include: secure payment wallets, Location API, CDC, DReaM, Blu-ray & MVM.
Other latest contributions include:
Java�s Auto-Id tags whose usage varies from supply chain, with an industrial automation robot to the refrigerator detecting age of milk.
JavaFX comprising of Script & Mobile, enables content providers to author rich, visually compelling dynamic applications.
Many happy returns of the day, Java.