Java documentation

• The reference: java.sun.com Sun's web site
• Local copy of the online book: "Thinking in Java" by Bruce Eckel [restricted access]
• Local copy of the online books: "Java Reference Library" from O'Reilly [restricted access]
• Local copy of the Java Development Kit Documentation 1.2 from Sun
• The Java tutorial from Sun.

Java is a programming language

• New programming language;
• Strong influence of C (syntax and operators) and Smalltalk;
• Easier to learn than C++ because the more complex concepts are not integrated in Java;
• Huge library of classes that cover various topics such as network management, security, and graphical user interface. There are two libraries form the graphical user interface: AWT and Swing;
• High-performance;
• Supports multithreading, a very powerful functionality.

Java is a robust language

• Strongly typed language;
• Extensive compilation-time checking;
• Explicit declarations of data and methods;
• No pointers;
• Checking of bounds in arrays;
• Automatic garbage collector;
• Exception handling.

Java is object-oriented

It supports the three major features of object-oriented programming:

• encapsulation
• polymorphism
• inheritance

In an object-oriented system, a class is a collection of data and methods that operate on the data. Object-oriented programming is quite a change from procedural programming; the process of designing objects is much more challenging than conventional design.

Java is platform-neutral

The motto of Sun, who invented the Java language, is "write once, run anywhere". Consult the next page.

Java is a distributed language

• Java 1.0, lastest version 1.02 (220 classes)
• Java 1.1, lastest version 1.1.8 (500 classes)
• Java 1.2, (recalled Java 2), lastest version Java 2, v1.3 ( 1600 classes)