an object-oriented programming language created by Sun Microsystems. Java is a device-independent language, meaning that programs compiled in Java can be run on any computer.
a programming language developed at Sun Microsystems in the mid-1990s to enable networked computers to transmit computations to each other, not just data. For example, an Internet user can connect to a Java applet (program) on theWorldWideWeb, download it, and run it, all at the click of a mouse, using a Java-compatible web browser. Applets can include features such as animation. Figure 145 shows an example of a Java program.
Java is important not only because it allows computations to be downloaded through web pages, but also because it is the first portable programming language for windowed operating systems. It does for windowing what BASIC did for the keyboard and screen, making it possible to write programs that run the same way regardless of the kind of machine.
