Introduction to Java
Java vs. Other Languages
NOTE: In syntax and execution, Java is a lot like a simplified (improved) version of C++.
It is a highly robust, distributed, high performance, object-oriented, multi-threaded language with all of the usual features.
As such, it builds upon years of C++ development, taking the good and dispensing with the bad.
However, it would be a mistake to simply think of Java as a watered-down C++ or C+++.
Java also shares a great deal of similarities with other programming languages such as SmallTalk and Lisp as well as scripting languages like Tcl and Perl.
It is worth noting however, that Java and JavaScript have very little in common besides the name.
Java is a full-featured, object-oriented, programming language capable of living inside or outside of a web browser.
JavaScript, on the other hand, is a limited, object-based, scripting language.
Like most scripting languages, JavaScript is used to solve problems by gluing together existing resources rather than by creating resources to solve the problem itself.
For example, JavaScript might be used to control the browser or dynamically modify the documents that the browser displays.
Java, on the other hand, could be used to build a browser!
As you might imagine, JavaScript is fairly limited compared to Java.
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Selena Sol contributes to the JavaBoutique's Introduction to Java. Selena curently works for Barclays Capital in London, one of the leading global investment banks in Europe and has worked as a software developer for the National Center for Human Genome research, Microline Software, Neuron Data, and Electric Eye in Singapore. Selena is perhaps best-known for creating the Public Domain Web Script Archive (Extropia) and writing several books on Web Programming (Perl, CGI, Java).
Email: selena@extropia.com
New on the Java Boutique:
New Review:
Time Management Made Easy with the Quartz Enterprise Job Scheduler
Why not just use the Java timer API? This open source scheduling
API boasts simplicity, ease-of-integration, a well-rounded feature
set, and it's free!
New Applet:
Reverse Complement
Reverse Complement is a simple applet that converts DNA or RNA
sequences into three useful formats.
Elsewhere on internet.com:
WebDeveloper Java
Lots of Java information on webdeveloper.com
WDVL Java
Thorough Java resource at the Web Developer's Virtual Library.
ScriptSearch Java
Hundreds of free Java code files to download.
jGuru: Your View of the Java Universe
Customizable portal with online training, FAQs, regular news updates, and tutorials.
