History of Java

Java has a very interesting story. A team of few engineers was formed in Sun Microsystems to develop a fast, secure and reliable programming language under the leadership of James Gosling. The project was started in June 1991 along with Mike Sheirdan and Patrick Naughton headed by James Gosling. The language was initially designed for interactive television but it proved to be too advanced for cable television industry at that time. However, it was best suited for internet programming. Below are some interesting points about the language as far as its history goes.

• The team of engineers that started working on a new language (today known as Java) was called ‘Green Team’.
• Initially, the language was given name ‘OAK’ after an Oak tree that stood outside Games Gosling’s office.
• But this didn’t work as there was a name conflict with Oak Technologies. So, the name OAK was dropped.
• Later the project ran by the name ‘Greentalk’ and the file extension was .gt.
• In 1995, the language was given a name which is continued till date. That name is ‘Java’. This is how Java got its name.
• There were multiple choices for the name along with Java like Ruby, DNA, SILK etc. But ‘Java’ got maximum votes within the team and it got its name.
• SILK was the second most popular choice.
• The name ‘Java’ came to James Gosling’s mind when one day he was having coffee near his office. Java Coffee is a type of coffee from Indonesia.

• In 1995, Java was awarded one of the ten best products in the field of technology by Time magzine.
• First version of java 1.0 was released in 1996, January 23.
• Java is the number 1 developer platform in the world.
• More than ten million developers and 13 billion devices use Java till the point this line is written.

Now, since we know little bit of history of Java, it’s time to enjoy your cup of coffee or tea. So, enjoy your drink and happy learning.