Welcome to this course, Introduction to Java. This is the Java timeline. Java actually has its roots decades ago. There was a Green Project founded in January of 1991. And the goal was to create a software programming language that was completely platform independent, to run on different home consumer devices such as televisions, TV set top boxes, even microwaves, washing machines, and dishwashers. Obviously those are all different types of hardware. So, a single programming language to run these types of devices would be quite advantageous. And key members of this green project were Bill Joy, James Gosling, Mike Sheradin, Patrick Naughton, all of which are celebrities in the software programming world. The software lead architect was James Gosling and he initially researched C++. But C++ is a compiled language and is obviously you need to understand the hardware. And since a hardware neutral approach was needed, there were just too many gaps in C++. So Gosling began to work on a new language, which he called Oak. And it was named after an oak tree outside of the office. A hardware prototype began in April of 1991. The Green Project is joined by SPARCstation 10's Ed Frank to lead the hardware work. Because if there's going to be a hardware neutral programming language, it's good to have a few key hardware platforms word to run. And that project was code named star seven [*7]. And James Gosling continued to work on the Oak interpreter. By March of 1992, it was discovered that the name Oak was already being used. It had already been copyrighted. So, for the programming language the name Java was selected. And yes, it was inspired by coffee, as you can see in the Java logo. By September of 1992, *7 prototype of working GUI was already completed and demonstrated. And at this point the Green Project had its new language, its own operating system, and a hardware platform with an interface. By November of 1992, the Green Project was incorporated as a separate entity with the name FirstPerson, and it was incorporated as a subsidiary of Sun Microsystems. In February 1993, FirstPerson attempted to get an order from Time-Warner for its interactive TV set top boxes. But it was not selected, and the focus shifted away from consumer electronics. Because around that time it was discovered that a new platform was gaining new popularity, that was the World Wide Web or the Internet. And since when users are on the Internet they never know what type of hardware could be running, and users cannot select nor should they select what type of hardware. So it made Java became a perfect fit with the Internet. So Arthur half joins the team to work on an application development platform. And by June 1994 FirstPerson was closed and employees were absorbing the Sun. The Liveoak project was started to create an operating system for Oak. And shortly after that, Patrick Naughton created a web browser that actually use Java. And the Liveoak project was modified to Oak for the Internet. In September 1994, Naughton and Jonathan Payne began to complete a project of a Java based web browser called HotJava. And this project gained wide acceptance, coz it didn't matter at all on what platform the applications ran. And also a Java compiler was was rewritten in order to make the Java language more robust, and that way Java could be compiled on uncertain hardware platforms. By May of 1995, Java and HotJava, they were formally introduced by Sun at the SunWorld Conference. And just a month later, Netscape support was added. And Sun holds the first Java developer conference in New York. In 1995, Oracle included a Java compatible browser in its Internet launch. And Microsoft also added support in their web browser Internet Explorer, really giving Java a wider industry appearance and acceptance. And Time Magazine also named Java as one of the best products of the year. In 1996, the Java Development Kit 1.0 was released, and a year later the Java Development Kit 1.1 was released. 1.1 was a significant advance, because it added what they call drivers to allow Java applications to connect to a database. So the Java Database Connection Drivers were added, as well as other items. In December 1998, there was a Playground released and it was called Java 2, although it was really 1.2. And again, it was very, very popular at the time there was what they call Just In Time compiler. There were added foundation classes, more libraries and enhancements added to the Java Database Connection Drivers. And then around the year 2000 there was another release. And then in 2002 there was a release name Merlin, which also added XML Processing, to make Java more useful for web programming, web applications. And it added more to the JDBC and added some other items as well. There were features added in September 2004, and then again Java began to add itself to the open source platform. Although there was some controversy because the way that Java was architected, it wasn't a perfect fit for what most of the community would be considered open source. By December 2006, Java Standard Edition 6.0, code named Mustang. Major features included Scripting Language Support. Again more features, more enhancements for the Java Database Connections, the Java Compiler APIs, and Integrated Web Services. So APIs are away for Java to connect into other software programs. And Web Services are repository of information, so Web applications can actually go out to different Web Services and get information, maybe like today's weather or the distance that a driver may have to drive. In 2010, Oracle buys Sun and gets Java with it. There was no support for Java in the future for Apple, so Steve Jobs announced at Apple will not support Java in the future. And in 2011, the Java Standard Edition of code named Dolphin released after 5 long years. And major features included Dynamic Language Support, and also multiple exception handling. And in 2014, the Java Standard Edition 8 was released with major features such as Date and Time APIs, Default Methods, JavaScript Engine, Concurrent Accumulators, and other items. So this was a brief look at the Java timeline.
