Why is the language called Java?

The story is that the language was originally called Oak. However, during the early stages of the project the development team found that another language with the same name had been developed. They spent a lot of time discussing the name in a coffee area at Sun Systems and one of the team suggested they name it after the coffee they were drinking. Incidentally, Java was the last country to gain access to the Internet.

Isn't Java just a version of C++?

No, there are a number of similarities: the control structures are the same and the way classes are defined are similar. However, a number of features such as automatic garbage collection have been added to Java to make it more reliable and secure.

Can I compile a C++ program with the Java compiler?

No, there are so many differences that the compiler will give up very early.

What are the main uses for Java?

There are two uses: for the development of applets, which are sections of code which can be embedded in Web documents, and for applications, which are stand-alone programs that implement Internet system programming functions such as establishing connections between clients and servers.

Where does Java lie in the object-oriented language spectrum?

It lies somewhere in the middle between Smalltalk and C++. The former is a very pure object-oriented programming language which even treats arithmetic operations as messages; the latter is an industrial strength object-oriented language which is not so pure that you can quite easily write non-object-oriented programs using it.

What is the future for Java?

There are a number of applications for Java. For pure Internet system programming it currently has no rivals and is seen as the main language for this area in the medium term. For developing executable programs within Web documents for a variety of platforms it is, again, seen as the leading technology in the medium term. For the development of Web content for company-wide networks (Intranets) its main competition is languages such as Visual Basic and C++ used in conjunction with the Active X technology from Microsoft. For this area the competition is much greater and industry pundits are predicting a draw in that there are a large number of companies committed to Microsoft products who will not change over to Java.