Java is a modern, object-oriented programming language. It combines a similar syntax to C and C++ with features such as platform independence and automatic garbage collection. While Java was developed in the 1990s, there are already a number of products built around the technology: Java applets; Enterprise JavaBeans , servlets, Jini, and many others. All major Web browsers are Java-enabled, providing Java functionality to millions of Internet users.

The Java programming language was created in 1991 by James Gosling of Sun Microsystems. Gosling was part of a 13-member Green Team charged with predicting and developing the next generation of computing. The team developed an animated, touch-screen, remote-control device (called *7 or StarSeven), programmed entirely in a new language, Java.

While the *7 device was a commercial failure, the Sun Microsystems team saw a potential forum for its Java technology the Internet. The Mosaic Web browser had been released in 1993, providing a simple user interface to an Internet site. While multimedia files could be transmitted over the Internet, Web browsers relied on static Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML) to represent visual content. In 1994, Sun Microsystems released a new Web browser, called HotJava , which could display dynamic, animated content in a Web browser.

To promote widespread adoption, Sun Microsystems released the Java source code to the public in 1995. Publicly available source code also had the advantage of added developer scrutiny, which helped iron out the remaining bugs. At the 1995 SunWorld show, Sun Microsystems executives and Netscape...