Java is a computing platform coupled with a programming language, which was created by Sun Microsystems in 1995.
Many applications and websites rely on Java to this day, and although in recent years Java’s relevancy has been decreasing due to the growing popularity of JavaScript, it is still an important technology.
It’s a great cross-platform system that’s useful in many situations thanks to the speed, reliability and security it offers. In the digital world, Java can be found almost everywhere.
Java is particularly beloved by enterprise-level companies – some say as much as 90% of the worlds biggest companies use it in enterprise applications, mobile applications, for analysing big data, and more.
There are over 10 million Java developers in the world, making it one of the biggest (if not the single biggest) programmer communities. Because of this, there are almost endless frameworks and libraries.
Java is a fundamental part of the Android ecosystem – the biggest mobile platform in the world – where developers use this language to build Android apps. This makes Java programmers necessary in most Android projects.
On the other hand, it isn’t used – because it can’t be used – in iOS development, as Apple doesn’t allow it.
It may be old, but new features are constantly added to it, and new versions are regularly released. Java continues to be a very sought-after technology.
But the world of Java isn’t perfect. There have been a lot of concerns about the security that it’s able to offer, especially for web developers. In recent years, hackers have used Java exploits to attack huge internet giants like Twitter, Facebook, Apple or Microsoft.
Since then, those vulnerabilities have been fixed, but many developers and managers have tried to remove Java from their projects. Old versions of Java are still used in many parts of the web, which means that the problem still exists.
Java continues to be in competition with JavaScript, Python and PHP, but it will still take significant time for competitors to diminish Java.
It is a great tool-set for many applications, from tiny Android apps to large banking systems. It’s because Java offers simplicity for developers, which translates to simplicity for end users as well.