Java is a powerful and flexible programming language that has been in existence for over two decades and was at the vanguard of the explosion of the internet at the end of the twentieth century. As a general purpose programming language, it can create nearly any program the coder wishes to make, but it was built to have as few implementation dependencies as possible.

Essentially, it is intended to allow its programs to be run on almost any computer containing the Java programming language. But where is Java programming used in the real world? The answer is that it is surprisingly prolific. Indeed, it is one of the most important coding languages out there with an estimated 90 million different developers. With its flexible implementation and support across all three major operation systems, this is hardly surprising.

The Most Common Use of Java

The most common use of the Java programming language is inside of Java applets. These are small-sized applications that are delivered to users inside of bytecode, a set of instructions for the Java Virtual Machine. Once the bytecode is received, the Java applet is launched from a web page, and the program is carried out inside of a Java Virtual Machine. This process is separate from the web browser itself, but can be viewed inside the web browser’s window, a new application window or a specialty program’s window intended to work specifically with Java applets. The classes inside Java applets are sent in .jar files enabling an entire applet to be sent inside of a single file.

What this means in the real world is that small, specialized programs can be coded and implemented in web pages. The Java programming language is quite versatile and can be programmed for anything from graphical interfaces to instant messenger programs. These programs are easy to make and run on most web browsers across all three major operating systems. No small feat given the world of differences between Linux, OS X, and Windows, but Java works for all three systems. Even better, with the wide range of programming options, this allows users to create truly custom web pages that look and function exactly the way they want rather than being a simple matter of pure text. Applications like this are part of the reason why Java is among the top three most important coding languages for keeping the internet rolling forward.

In a similar vein to applets, there are servlets. These are specialized Java programs intended to expand the capacities of a server. These servlets can be programmed to respond a wide range of requests, but true to Java’s reputation as a cornerstone of the modern internet, these programs find their most common use on Web servers. Web Servlets are the Java version dynamic Web content technologies. Often used with HTTP protocol to enable web pages to react to users’ actions on a web page, these programs are commonly embedded into HTML or XML pages and can maintain their existing states between sessions through HTTP cookies or rewriting URLs.

What this means is that a user can interact with a web page running Java servlets. While other programs do offer similar means by which a user can input data into a web page and interact with it, Java servlets lean more towards the graphical, and data can be saved between sessions of using the server. This means that anything from job applications to personal journals can be saved even if the user stops using the server. Online, this means that a user can visit a web page, input information and then expect it to be saved in their browser’s cache between sessions of use.

Learning to code in Java is essential for web programmers. If you want to test your skills, you can take a Java quiz online and check your score. There are also a vast number of online courses which teach Java coding from beginner to advanced levels.

Rodney Berry