What is Java?

        The Java ^TM platform is based on the power of networks and the idea that the same software should run on many different kinds of computers, consumer gadgets, and other devices. Since its initial commercial release in 1995, Java technology has grown in popularity and usage because of its true portability. The Java platform allows you to run the same Java application on lots of different kinds of computers.

       Any Java application can easily be delivered over the Internet, or any network, without operating system or hardware platform compatibility issues. For example, you could run a Java technology based application on a PC, a Machintosh computer, a network computer, or even new technologies like Internet screen phones. Furthermore, the Java platform was designed to run programs securely on networks, which means that it integrates safely with the existing systems on your network.

     The idea is simple: Java technology-based software can work just about everywhere. Java technology components don't care what kind of computer, phone, TV, or operating system they run on. They just work, on any kind of compatible device that supports the Java platform.

Java technology allows programmers and users to do new things with Web pages that were not possible before. With Java technology, the Internet and private networks become your computing environment. For example, users can securely access their personal information and applications when they're far away from the office by using any computer that's connected to the Internet; soon they'll be able to access tailored applications from a mobile phone based on the Java platform, or even use smart cards as a pass key to everything from the cash machine to ski lifts.

       The Java platform is being built into next-generation telephones, TV set-top boxes, smart cards that fit in your wallet, and many other consumer and business devices. Java technology-based software includes: programs written in the Java programming language can run directly on your computer (without requiring a browser), or on servers, on large mainframe computers, or other devices.

For example, Java technology-based software running on servers in large companies monitors transactions and ties together data from existing computer systems. Other companies are using Java technology-based software on their internal Web sites to streamline communication and the flow of information between departments, suppliers and customers.

       Programs written in the Java programming language run on so many different kinds of systems thanks to a component of the platform called the Java virtual machine or "JVM^TM"* -- a kind of translator that turns general Java platform instructions into tailored commands that make the devices do their work.

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