Do you want to pursue a career in software development? To become a professional developer, you need to have a firm grip over at least one programming language. Although programming languages are not easy to learn, finding the one you like developing with the most is important.
Java is one of the most used programming languages. Stats by Statista.com suggest 33.27% of developers will use it worldwide in 2022. It is an easy-to-learn language and helps you clear your object-oriented programming (OOP) concepts.
What is JAVA?
It is a multi-platform programming language to develop applications for different devices. Many top development companies consider it a reliable, fast, and secure programming language. Java was developed by Sun Microsystems in the year 1995 and is used by most applications and websites today.
To make it work, you need to install JDK (Java Development Kit) for development and JRE (Java Runtime Environment) for running the Java applications. You can download JDK from oracle’s website, that is oracle.com, and install the latest Java version, JDK version 8.
What is Java used for today?
You might be wondering what is Java used for in 2022? Java is used for many enterprise-level applications, from gaming applications to simple desktop applications. It is a go-to language for developers, and java programming uses are popular in technologically advanced industries.
You can use its frameworks and tools to develop different types of applications. We will be listing below different uses for Java to help you understand the different applications of Java.
Mobile Applications
Android applications are built using the Java language. Android Studio, the popular android development IDE, uses Java for developing android applications. Being familiar with Java will make it easy for you to develop android mobile applications.
Web-Based Applications
Java supports web development by using JSP, Struts, and Servlet. This is why Java is also popular as a server-side programming language. Many popular websites such as AliExpress and Amazon are written using Java.
Desktop Applications
Many GUI(graphical user interface) based desktop applications can be built using Java as it provides several frameworks. Java frameworks such as JavaFX, Swing, and Griffon. List, menu, and button components are assembled and included in the tools.
Game Development
Java provides support for the open source 3D engine, which is why many game development companies use Java for game development. When it comes to the context of designing 3D games, the engine offers unmatched capacity.
The most well-known Java video games include ones like Minecraft and Mission Impossible III. Some well-known frameworks and libraries are available for game development, including LibGDX and OpenGL.
IoT Applications
IoT (Internet of Things) is a technology that connects devices embedded in its networks and communicates with those devices with the help of the network. Although there are many other programming languages for developing IoT applications, Java provides flexibility, making IoT programmers use Java.
Cloud Applications
The on-demand accessibility of IT resources over the internet is referred to as a cloud application. The service is inexpensively provided through the cloud-based application at feasible costs. The environment for creating cloud-based apps is provided by Java. You can create SaaS (Software as a Service), PaaS(Platform as a Service), LaaS (Logging as a Service), and applications using Java. The cloud application is frequently used to develop apps remotely or communicate data amongst businesses.
What is Java Used For on a Computer?
Java on a computer is used for developing Java applications for different platforms and also compiling and running those applications. Applications that work in a distributed manner can also be developed using JDK.
That implies that a single program can run synchronously while being spread among servers or clients in a network. As an additional component of web pages, Java can be used to create application modules or applets.
How to Program in Java?
Step #01:
Download and Install JRE (Java Runtime Environment)
The Java runtime environment contains the software and library components layer that will allow JVM (Java Virtual machines) to run Java Applications. Download it from the official website.
Step #02:
Download and Install JDK (Java Development Kit)
Install Java Runtime Environment by downloading it. The software layer that is utilized to run Java programs is in the Java Runtime Environment. But it does not include the tools and components that will help you develop a Java program. For that, you will have to install JDK (Java Development Kit), which contains the elements needed to build a java application. Download the kit from Oracle’s website.
Step #03:
Install and Download an IDE
IDE is the integrated development environment; the most popular ones are Netbeans and Eclipse for compiling and debugging Java applications. In contrast, you can use Android Studio as an IDE to compile android mobile applications. An IDE helps you compile the code and detect errors in the Java code or Java program.
Why is Java so Widely Used?
The answer is mostly found in Java’s historically thorough testing, upgrading, and consistency of delivery. Dedicated Java developers, architects, and fans have worked on testing, improving, expanding, and proving Java so much that you will be amazed how much is Java used. Java has continually changed throughout the years while having roots that go back almost two decades.
Java is made to make it easy to create portable, high-performance applications for the broadest range of computing systems, enabling both the general principles of accessibility and cross-platform interaction. Businesses may offer more services, improve end-user productivity, communication, and collaboration, and significantly lower the ownership cost of the enterprise and the consumer applications by making applications available across heterogeneous settings.
Reasons to Learn Java
There are some vital reasons why learning Java as a programming language is beneficial, which we will list and define to help you motivate yourself to learn Java.
Easy to learn
The syntax of Java is similar to that of English, which is why it is an easy language to learn. Because of the ease of learning, many universities have started teaching students Java as the first programming language. This helps them define the concepts of programming languages for future developers.
High Salary
Java developers are in high demand, and that is why they are hired at high salaries. It is of the most popular programming languages, and because of its popularity, Java developers are in demand. A high-paying job is worth learning Java as your programming language for development.
Increased Job Opportunities
As java development is in high demand in many industries, there are more job opportunities than in other programming languages jobs. You can grab these opportunities easily as there are vast options. Such as in android development, game development, desktop applications development and big data analytics industry.
Frameworks and Tool Support
There are a lot of frameworks of Java and great tool support that makes it a great reason to learn Java development. In software creation, Java tools are used to optimize the performance of Java programs. Even though Java is a for-profit technology owned by Oracle, many free tools are available.
Integrated development environments (IDEs), such as Eclipse and IntelliJIDEA, designed to document and debug your code, are some of the most popular tools.
Java also offers many frameworks, or ready-made pieces of code, frequently used as models for desktop and mobile apps. Developers use these frameworks in place of writing original custom code.
Learning Java is Free
Because Java is freely accessible under the Oracle Binary Code License (BCL), it is highly well-liked by lone programmers. This indicates that Java is free for testing and development environments, but some payment is necessary for commercial use.
It is Platform-Independent
As the Java source code is translated to byte code by the compiler, and then it can be executed on any platform using the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), Java is platform-independent. Java is a platform-neutral language, commonly referred to as a WORA (write once, run everywhere) language. Furthermore, due to Java’s platform independence, most Java programs are created in a Windows environment and run on UNIX systems.
Java is Flexible
Java is particularly adaptable since it can be used to build programs for the web, mobile devices, desktop computers, and different platforms. Also, Java has many features that make it adaptable, like dynamic coding, several security features, platform independence, and network-centric architecture. Whether a beginner or a college freshman, if you want to learn how to code, today is the day to get started.
Learning Java as a programming language has many benefits, and making it your language for development may lend you a high-paying job. So, these were the top 7 reasons that we think are why you need to learn Java. I hope we answered your questions, such as what does Java do? And helped you in taking the decision that you will start learning Java development and become a professional Java developer.
