Java for Beginners 2 - Java Overview

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Lecture 2: Java Overview

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Hi there, My name is Marius from AlefTav Coding, and in this lecture I will provide a brief overview of Java, the language.

Question: What is Java?
Answer: Java is a general-purpose computer programming language. In fact, it is the most widely-used programming language in the world. Created by the Canadian, James Gosling, Java's first public release was in 1995. Today, Java is used to write programs for every industry, whether it be business enterprise software, Android mobile phone apps, games, the internet of things or the blockchain technology.

Three characteristics, that make Java so useful as a programming languare, are:

Being object-oriented, which means solving problems by using objects. An object is a computer representation of something that exists in the world, for example a person, a dog or an internet website.
Being architecture neutral, which means you can run Java programs on different types of computer. A Microsoft Windows machine, an Apple Mac or a Linux computer. Furthermore, you can write a java program on a Windows computer, but then you can run it on an Apple Mac.
Java is very secure, meaning that features built into the language ensure that, for example dangerous software cannot damage your computer.

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Development process

What is the process of developing a Java program?
Firstly, you, the programmer type your source code in a text file (HelloWorld.java). This file has the ending .java. The source file is transformed into an intermediate file with the ending .class. This .class file in turn is translated into a language that the computer understands. This third and final stage is when your computer executes the code. In my example image below, program execution happens when you see the words, hello world appear on your computer screen.

A special program named the java compiler turns the .java file into the .class file. Changing the .class file into machine language is carried out by another special program, called the Java virtual machine or JVM

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Java's popularity

Java is the world's most popular language according to the Tiobe Index. This index is a website that ranks programming languages according to world-wide use. The index for May 2018 ranks Java as the number one language, more than two percentage (2%) points ahead of the language ranked in second place. And Java has been number 1 just about every year since 2003.
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Java developers are amongst the best paid. The website, indeed.com, conducted research in 2016 on developer pay in the US. Their result was that more than 35,000 java developers earned a salary of over $100,000.

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Conclusion

If you have Java skills, not only will you be in great demand, but you will also earn an above-average salary anywhere in the world, whatever the industry you choose to specialise in.

In this lecture you learnt important aspects of the Java language.

I am Marius from AlefTav Coding. Thank you for reading. See you in the next lecture, where you will learn about the tools to create Java programs.

If you enjoyed this tutorial, please upvote, subscribe, like and share. For more of this you can find me at the following links.

https://d.tube/#!/c/mariusclaassen
https://steemit.com/@mariusclaassen
https://busy.org/@mariusclaassen
https://www.udemy.com/course/1132484/manage/basics/