Java

Java
    n 1: an island in Indonesia to the south of Borneo; one of the
         world's most densely populated regions
    2: a beverage consisting of an infusion of ground coffee beans;
       "he ordered a cup of coffee" [syn: {coffee}, {java}]
    3: a platform-independent object-oriented programming language
    

Java \Ja"va\ (j[aum]"v[.a]), n.
   1. One of the islands of the Malay Archipelago belonging to
      the Netherlands.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Java coffee, a kind of coffee brought from Java.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. (Computers) [all capitals] an object-oriented computer
      programming language, derived largely from {C++}, used
      widely for design and display of web pages on the
      world-wide web. It is an interpreted language, and has
      been suggested as a platform-independent code to allow
      execution of the same progam under multiple operating
      systems without recompiling. The language is still (1997)
      under active development, and is evolving.
      [GG + PJC]

   {Java cat} (Zool.), the musang.

   {Java sparrow} (Zool.), a species of finch ({Padda
      oryzivora}), native of Java, but very commonly kept as a
      cage bird; -- called also {ricebird}, and {paddy bird}. In
      the male the upper parts are glaucous gray, the head and
      tail black, the under parts delicate rose, and the cheeks
      white. The bill is large and red. A white variety is also
      kept as a cage bird.
      [1913 Webster]
    

higher programming language \higher programming language\ n.
   (Computers)
   A computer programming language with an instruction set
   allowing one instruction to code for several assembly
   language instructions.

   Note: The aggregation of several assembly-language
         instructions into one instruction allows much greater
         efficiency in writing computer programs. Most programs
         are now written in some higher programming language,
         such as {BASIC}, {FORTRAN}, {COBOL}, {C}, {C++},
         {PROLOG}, or {JAVA}.
         [PJC]
    

Java


   An object-oriented language originally developed at Sun by James
   Gosling (and known by the name "Oak") with the intention of being the
   successor to {C++} (the project was however originally sold to Sun as
   an embedded language for use in set-top boxes). After the great
   Internet explosion of 1993-1994, Java was hacked into a
   byte-interpreted language and became the focus of a relentless hype
   campaign by Sun, which touted it as the new language of choice for
   distributed applications.

   Java is indeed a stronger and cleaner design than C++ and has been
   embraced by many in the hacker community -- but it has been a
   considerable source of frustration to many others, for reasons ranging
   from uneven support on different Web browser platforms, performance
   issues, and some notorious deficiencies in some of the standard
   toolkits (AWT in particular). {Microsoft}'s determined attempts to
   corrupt the language (which it rightly sees as a threat to its OS
   monopoly) have not helped. As of 2002, these issues are still in the
   process of being resolved.

   Despite many attractive features and a good design, it is difficult to
   find people willing to praise Java who have tried to implement a
   complex, real-world system with it (but to be fair it is early days
   yet, and no other language has ever been forced to spend its childhood
   under the limelight the way Java has). On the other hand, Java has
   already been a big {win} in academic circles, where it has taken the
   place of {Pascal} as the preferred tool for teaching the basics of
   good programming to the next generation of hackers.
    

Java

   <programming, language, portability> (After the Indonesian island, a
   source of {programming fluid}) A simple, {object-oriented},
   {distributed}, {interpreted}, robust, secure,
   {architecture-neutral}, {portable}, {multithreaded}, dynamic,
   buzzword-compliant, general-purpose programming language
   developed by {Sun Microsystems} in the early 1990's (initially for
   set-top television controllers), and released to the public in 1995.

   Java first became popular by being the earliest portable
   dynamic client-side content for the {World-Wide Web} in the
   form of {platform}-independent Java "applets". In the late
   1990's and into the 2000's it has also become very popular
   on the server side, where an entire set of {APIs} defines the {J2EE}.

   Java is both a set of public specifications (controlled by
   {Sun Microsystems} through the {JCP}) and a series of
   implementations of those specifications.

   Java is syntactially similar to {C++} without user-definable
   {operator overloading}, (though it does have {method}
   overloading), without {multiple inheritance}, and extensive
   automatic {coercions}.  It has automatic {garbage collection}.
   Java extends {C++}'s {object-oriented} facilities with those
   of {Objective C} for {dynamic method resolution}.

   Whereas programs in C++ and similar languages are compiled
   and linked to platform-specific binary executables, Java
   programs are typically compiled to portable {architecture-neutral}
   {bytecode} or ".class" files, which are run using a {Java
   Virtual Machine}.  The JVM is also called an {interpreter},
   though it is more correct to say that it uses {Just-In-Time
   Compilation} to convert the {bytecode} into {native} {machine
   code}, yielding greater efficiency than most interpreted
   languages, rivalling C++ for many long-running, non-GUI
   applications.  The run-time system is typically written in
   {POSIX}-compliant {ANSI C} or {C++}.  Some implementations
   allow Java class files to be translated into {native}
   {machine code} during or after compilation.

   The Java compiler and {linker} both enforce {strong type
   checking} - procedures must be explicitly typed.  Java
   supports the creation of {virus}-free, tamper-free systems
   with {authentication} based on {public-key encryption}.

   Java has an extensive library of routines for all kinds of
   programming tasks, rivalling that of other languages.

    

Java, SD (city, FIPS 32460)
  Location: 45.50358 N, 99.88423 W
  Population (1990): 161 (125 housing units)
  Area: 1.2 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
  Zip code(s): 57452
Java, VA
  Zip code(s): 24565
    

Java, SD -- U.S. town in South Dakota
   Population (2000):    197
   Housing Units (2000): 133
   Land area (2000):     0.479417 sq. miles (1.241684 sq. km)
   Water area (2000):    0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km)
   Total area (2000):    0.479417 sq. miles (1.241684 sq. km)
   FIPS code:            32460
   Located within:       South Dakota (SD), FIPS 46
   Location:             45.502870 N, 99.886049 W
   ZIP Codes (1990):     57452
   Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
   Headwords:
    Java, SD
    Java