February 2023
Beginner to intermediate
482 pages
12h 58m
English
Content preview from Java in a Nutshell, 8th Edition
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Chapter 1. Introduction to the Java Environment
Welcome to Java in 2023.
You may be coming to the Java world from another tradition, or maybe this is your first taste of computer programming. Whatever road you may have traveled to get here, welcome—we’re glad you’ve arrived.
Java is a powerful, general-purpose programming environment. It is one of the most widely used programming environments in the world and has been exceptionally successful in business and enterprise computing for over 25 years.
In this chapter, we’ll set the scene by describing the Java language (which programmers write their applications in), the Java execution environment (known as the “Java Virtual Machine,” which actually runs those applications), and the Java ecosystem (which provides a lot of the value of the programming environment to development teams).
All three of these concepts (language, execution environment, and ecosystem) are habitually referred to just as “Java,” with the precise usage inferred from context. In practice, they are such connected ideas that this isn’t as confusing as it might first seem.
We’ll briefly cover the history of the Java language and virtual machine, move on to discuss the lifecycle of a Java program, and then clear up some common questions about the differences between Java and other environments.
The Language, the JVM, and the Ecosystem
The base Java programming environment has been around since the late 1990s. It is composed of the Java language and the supporting ...
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O’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.Julian F.
I wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.Addison B.
I’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.Amir M.
I'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.