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Editor to share with you how Java comes from. I hope you will get something after reading this article. Let's discuss it together.

The Origin of Java

For the history of the development of computer language, it is generally believed that B language led to the birth of C language, C language evolved into C++ language, and C++ language will give way to Java language. To better understand the Java language, we must understand why it came into being, the driving force behind its development, and its inheritance from other languages. Like other successful computer languages before, Java inherits the advanced principles of other languages and puts forward some innovative concepts because of its unique environmental requirements. In other chapters of this book, the Java language, libraries, and applications, including syntax, will be introduced in detail from a practical point of view. In this chapter, we will introduce the background and development of the Java language, and the reasons that make it so important.

Although the Java language is inextricably linked to the online environment of Internet, the most important thing to note first is that it is a programming language. The innovation and development of computer language needs to be driven by two basic factors:

Adapt to the changing environment and needs

Realize the perfection and improvement of programming art

As you will see below, Java is also driven by these two factors.

Java is always associated with C++, while C++ is derived from C, so Java inherits most of the features of both languages. The syntax of Java is inherited from C, and many object-oriented features of Java are influenced by C++. In fact, several custom features in Java come from or can be traced back to its precursors. Moreover, the emergence of Java language is closely related to the meticulous improvement and continuous development of computer language in the past 30 years. For these reasons, this section reviews the events and drivers that drive Java in order. As you will see, every innovation in language design is caused by the fact that previous languages cannot solve the basic problems encountered today. Java is no exception.

The birth of modern programming language: C language

The emergence of C language shocked the whole computer world. Its impact should not be underestimated, because it fundamentally changes the method and thinking of programming. The emergence of C language is the direct result of people's pursuit of structured, efficient and high-level language, which can be used instead of assembly language to develop system programs. When designing a computer language, there are often tradeoffs in the following aspects:

Ease of use and function

Safety and efficiency

Stability and scalability

Before the advent of the C language, programmers often had to choose between languages that had advantages but were lacking in some aspects. For example, although it is recognized that FORTRAN can write fairly efficient programs in scientific computing applications, it is not suitable for writing system programs. Although BASIC is easy to learn, it is not powerful enough and not structured, which calls into question the effectiveness of its application to large programs. Although assembly language can write efficient programs, it is not easy to learn or use it effectively. Also, debugging the assembler is quite difficult.

Another complicated problem is that the computer languages (such as BASIC,COBOL,FORTRAN) designed in the early days did not take into account the principles of structured design and used Goto statements as a main method to control programs. As a result, programs written in these languages often become "spaghetti code", with a jumble of jump statements and conditional branch statements that make the program almost impossible to read. Although Pascal is a structured language, it is inefficient in design and lacks several necessary features, so it cannot be used in a large programming scope (in particular, the standard language of a given Pascal is available at a specific time, but it is impractical to use Pascal as a system-level coding).

Therefore, before the emergence of C language, no language can fully meet people's needs, but people's need for such a language is urgent. In the early 1970s, the computer revolution began, and the demand for software is increasing day by day, which can not be met by using early computer language for software development. Academia has made a lot of efforts to create a better computer language. However, another and perhaps the most important factor contributing to the birth of the C language is the opportunity brought by the surplus of computer hardware resources. The computer is no longer locked in the door as it used to be, and programmers are free to use the computer and try it freely, so they have the opportunity to develop tools suitable for their own use. Therefore, on the eve of the birth of C language, the time is ripe for computer language to leap forward.

When Dennis Ritchie first invented and implemented the UNIX operating system on DEC PDP-11, an older BCPL language designed by Martin Richards led to the emergence of the C language. Under the influence of BCPL language, B language invented by Ken Thompson gradually evolved to C language in the 1970s. In the years that followed, "The C Programming Language" (Prentice-Hall,1978), written by Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie, was considered the de facto C standard, which believed that C was just a language that supported the UNIX operating system. In December 1989, the American National Organization for Standardization (ANSI) formulated the standard of C language, and C language was formally standardized.

Many people think that the emergence of C language marks the beginning of the era of modern computer language. It successfully comprehensively deals with the contradictory attributes that have plagued the early language for a long time. C language is a powerful and efficient structured language, easy to learn, and it also includes an invisible aspect: it is the programmer's own language. Before the advent of the C language, computer languages were designed either as academic experiments or by bureaucratic committees. The C language is different. Its design, implementation and development are completed by real programmers who are engaged in programming work, which reflects the methods of realistic programming work. Its characteristics are constantly refined, tested, thought and rethought by people who actually use the language, which makes C language a favorite language for programmers. Indeed, the C language quickly attracted many enthusiastic followers, so it was quickly favored by many programmers. In short, C is a language designed by programmers and used by them. As you will see, Java inherits this idea.

II. The need for C++

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, C became the mainstream computer programming language and is still widely used today. You might ask, since C is a successful and useful language, why do you need a new computer language? The answer is complexity. The fact that programs are becoming more and more complex runs through the history of programming languages. C++ is adapted to this demand. Here's why better management of program complexity is a basic condition for C++.

Since the invention of the computer, the programming method has undergone dramatic changes. For example, when computers were first invented, programming was achieved by manually punching binary machine instructions through panel triggers. This approach is feasible for programs with only a few hundred lines. As programs grew, people invented assembly language, which uses symbols instead of machine instructions so that programmers can deal with larger and more complex programs. With the further growth of the program, the high-level language emerged, which provides programmers with more tools to deal with complexity problems.

The first widely used high-level language is, of course, FORTRAN. Although FORTRAN was impressive at first, it was unable to develop a program that was clear and easy to understand. The structured programming method was put forward in the 1960s. This structured programming idea is used by languages like C, making it relatively easy for programmers to write moderately complex programs for the first time. However, when an engineering project reaches a certain scale, programmers cannot effectively manage its complexity even if structured programming methods are used. In the early 1980s, the complexity of many engineering projects exceeded the limits of the structured approach. In order to solve this problem, a new method of object-oriented programming (object-oriented programming,OOP) was born. Object-oriented programming is discussed in detail later in the book, but a brief definition is given here: object-oriented programming is a programming method that helps organize complex programs by using inheritance, encapsulation, and polymorphism.

In short, although C is one of the great programming languages in the world, its ability to deal with complexity is limited. Once the code of a program exceeds 25, 000, 000, 100, 000 lines, it is difficult to grasp its complexity as a whole. C++ breaks through this limitation to help programmers understand and manage larger programs.

C++ was invented in 1979 when Bjarne Stroustrup was working at Murray Hill Lab in New Jersey. Stroustrup originally called this new language "C with classes". In 1983, it changed its name to C++. C++ extends C. by adding object-oriented features. Because C++ is produced on the basis of C, it includes all the features, attributes and advantages of C. This is a key reason for C++ 's success as a language. The invention of C++ is not an attempt to create a completely new programming language, but an improvement on a language that has been highly successful. C + + was standardized in November 1997, and the current standard is ANSI/ISO.

III. The time has come for Java to appear.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the C++ language of object-oriented programming was dominant. Indeed, there was a time when programmers seemed to think that a perfect language had been found. Because C++ has the characteristics of object-oriented, but also has the advantages of high efficiency and format of C language, it is a programming language that can be widely used. However, as in the past, the forces driving the evolution of computer language are brewing. In the following years, the World wide Web (WWW) and Internet reached a critical state. This event led to another revolution in programming.

After reading this article, I believe you have a certain understanding of "how did Java come from". If you want to know more about it, you are welcome to follow the industry information channel. Thank you for reading!

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