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II. Introduction to Java
Objectives
In this chapter, a little bit of Java history and what is Java technology will be discussed. The
phases that a Java program undergoes will also be tackled.
At the end of this lesson, the student should be able to:
Knowledge on the history of Java
Describe the features of Java technology
Identify the different phases of a Java program
Java Background
Java was started as a project called "Oak" by James Gosling et al. of Sun Microsystems in
June 1991. Its name was changed to Java because there was already a language called Oak.
Gosling's goals were to implement a virtual machine and a language that had a familiar C‐like
notation but with greater uniformity and simplicity than C/C++. The first public implementation
was Java 1.0 in 1995. It made the promise of "Write Once, Run Anywhere", with free runtimes
on popular platforms. It was fairly secure and its security was configurable, allowing for
network and file access to be limited. The major web browsers soon incorporated it into their
standard configurations in a secure "applet" configuration.
Java Technology
A programming language
As a programming language, Java can create all kinds of applications that you
could create using any conventional programming language.
A development environment
As a development environment, Java technology provides you with a large suite
of tools: a compiler, an interpreter, a documentation generator, a class file packaging
tool and so on.
An application environment
Java technology applications are typically general‐purpose programs that run on
any machine where the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) is installed.
A deployment environment
Java technology has two main deployment environments: First, the JRE supplied
by the Java 2 Software Development Kit (SDK) contains the complete set of classes for
all the Java technology packages, which includes basic language classes, GUI component
classes, and so on. The other main deployment environment is the web browser. Most
commercial browsers supply a Java Technology Interpreter and Runtime environment.
Some Features of Java
The Java Virtual Machine
The Java Virtual Machine (JVM) is an imaginary machine that is implemented by
emulating software on a real machine. The JVM provides the hardware platform
specifications to which you compile all Java technology code. This specification enables
the Java software to be platform‐independent because the compilation is done for a
generic machine known as the JVM.
A bytecode is a special machine language that can be understood by the Java
Virtual Machine (JVM). The bytecode is independent of any particular computer
hardware, so any computer with a Java interpreter can execute the compiled Java
program, no matter what type of computer the program was compiled on.
Garbage Collection
Many programming languages allow a programmer to allocate memory during
runtime. However, after using that allocated memory, there should be a way to de‐
allocate that memory block in order for other programs to use it again. In C, C++ and
other languages the programmer is responsible for this. This can be difficult at times
since there can be instances wherein the programmers forget to de‐allocate memory
and therefore result to what we call memory leaks.
In Java, the programmer is freed from the burden of having to de‐allocate that
memory themselves by having what we call the garbage collection thread. The garbage
collection thread is responsible for freeing any memory that can be freed. This happens
automatically during the lifetime of the Java program.
Code Security
Code security is attained in Java through the implementation of its Java Runtime
Environment (JRE). The JRE runs code compiled for a JVM and performs class loading
(through the class loader), code verification (through the bytecode verifier) and finally
code execution.
The Class Loader is responsible for loading all classes needed for the Java
program. It adds security by separating the namespaces for the classes of the local file
system from those that are imported from network sources. This limits any Trojan horse
applications since local classes are always loaded first. After loading all the classes, the
memory layout of the executable is then determined. This adds protection against
unauthorized access to restricted areas of the code since the memory layout is
determined during runtime.
After loading the class and lay outing of memory, the bytecode verifier then tests
the format of the code fragments and checks the code fragments for illegal code that
can violate access rights to objects.
After all of these have been done, the code is then finally executed.
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Processing a Java Program
The following figure describes the process of compiling and executing a Java program.
Figure 2.1: Processing a Java Program
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Phase 1: Creating a Program
Phase 1 consists of editing a file with an editor program (normally known simply as an
editor). You type a Java program (typically referred to as source code) using the editor, make
any necessary corrections and save the program on a secondary storage device, such as your
hard drive. A file name ending with the .java extension indicates that the file contains Java
source code. We assume that the reader knows how to edit a file. Two editors widely used on
Linux systems are vi and emacs. On Windows, a simple editing program like Windows Notepad
will suffice. Many freeware and shareware editors are also available for download from the
Internet.
For organizations that develop substantial information systems, integrated
development environments (IDEs) are available from many major software suppliers, including
Sun Microsystems. IDEs provide tools that support the software development process,
including editors for writing and editing programs and debuggers for locating logic errors.
Phase 2: Compiling a Java Program into Bytecodes
In Phase 2, the programmer uses the command javac (the Java compiler) to compile a
program. For example, to compile a program called Welcome.java, you would type javac
Welcome.java in the command window of your system (i.e., the MS‐DOS prompt in Windows
95/98/ ME, the Command Prompt in Windows NT/2000/XP, the shell prompt in Linux or the
Terminal application in Mac OS X). If the program compiles, the compiler produces a .class file
called Welcome.class that contains the compiled version of the program.
The Java compiler translates Java source code into bytecodes that represent the tasks to
execute in the execution phase (Phase 5). Bytecodes are executed by the Java Virtual Machine
(JVM)—a part of the JDK and the foundation of the Java platform. A virtual machine (VM) is a
software application that simulates a computer, but hides the underlying operating system and
hardware from the programs that interact with the VM.
Phase 3: Loading a Program into Memory
In Phase 3, the program must be placed in memory before it can execute—known as
loading. The class loader takes the .class files containing the program’s bytecodes and transfers
them to primary memory. The class loader also loads any of the .class files provided by Java
that your program uses. The .class files can be loaded from a disk on your system or over a
network (e.g., your local college or company network, or the Internet).
Phase 4: Bytecode Verification
In Phase 4, as the classes are loaded, the bytecode verifier examines their bytecodes to
ensure that they are valid and do not violate Java’s security restrictions. Java enforces strong
security, to make sure that Java programs arriving over the network do not damage your files or
your system (as computer viruses and worms might).
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Phase 5: Execution
In Phase 5, the JVM executes the program’s bytecodes, thus performing the actions
specified by the program. In early Java versions, the JVM was simply an interpreter for Java
bytecodes. This caused most Java programs to execute slowly because the JVM would interpret
and execute one bytecode at a time. Today’s JVMs typically execute bytecodes using a
combination of interpretation and so‐called just‐in‐time (JIT) compilation. In this process, The
JVM analyzes the bytecodes as they are interpreted, searching for hot spots— parts of the
bytecodes that execute frequently. For these parts, a just‐in‐time (JIT) compiler— known as the
Java HotSpot compiler—translates the bytecodes into the underlying computer’s machine
language. When the JVM encounters these compiled parts again, the faster machine‐language
code executes. Thus Java programs actually go through two compilation phases—one in which
source code is translated into bytecodes (for portability across JVMs on different computer
platforms) and a second in which, during execution, the bytecodes are translated into machine
language for the actual computer on which the program executes.
Task Tool to use Output
Write the program Any text editor File with .java extension
File with .class extension (Java
Compile the program Java compiler
bytecode)
Run the program Java interpreter Program Output
Table 2.1: Summary of Processing of a Java Program