Beginning Java Programming

2Getting to Know Java

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS CHAPTER:                

• The history of Java
• The key features of Java
• How the Java technology works
• The key components of the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) and how they collaborate
• The different types of Java platforms and applications
• The relationship between Java and JavaScript
• The basic concepts of the Java language structure
• The primitive Java data types and how they are used

WROX.COM CODE DOWNLOADS FOR THIS CHAPTER

The wrox.com code downloads for this chapter are found at www.wrox.com/go/beginningjavaprogramming on the Download Code tab. The code is in the Chapter 2 download and individually named according to the names throughout the chapter.

Before you get your hands wet trying your first Java program, you need to learn some basic concepts relating to the Java architecture and language semantics. The chapter starts by providing a bird’s eye overview of Java’s history, its key features, and the underlying technology. The chapter then zooms into the Java Runtime Environment (JRE), which is the software environment in which Java programs are executed. This will be followed by a discussion of various types of Java applications, such as standalone applications, applets, servlets, and Java beans.

The chapter then covers the basic concepts of the Java language structure. You will read about various concepts such as classes, identifiers, Java keywords, variables, methods, comments, and naming conventions in depth. After that, ...