History of Java

Job descriptions say things like "Java 8 or above" or "experience with Java 17". Old projects you join at work may still run on Java 8, while new ones use Java 21 or 25. Knowing how Java grew helps you understand why these versions are different and why companies care which one you know.

History questions are also common in interviews for freshers. "Who created Java?" and "What was Java's original name?" take ten seconds to answer if you know the story.

Where Java Came From

In 1991, a small team at Sun Microsystems started the Green Project. The team was led by James Gosling, with Mike Sheridan and Patrick Naughton. Their goal was software for consumer devices such as set-top boxes and interactive TV.

These devices used many different processors. Writing a separate program for each chip was slow and expensive, so the team wanted a language whose programs could run on any of them. That goal, one program for many machines, is still the core idea of Java today.

From Oak to Java

Gosling first named the language Oak, after an oak tree outside his office. When the team tried to register the name, they found that another company already used it. After a brainstorming session, they chose Java, named after the coffee from the island of Java in Indonesia. That's also why Java's logo is a steaming cup of coffee.

Java Goes Public

The TV-device market didn't take off, but the World Wide Web did. Sun saw that a language for "any machine" was perfect for the internet, where every visitor uses a different computer.

Sun announced Java publicly in May 1995, with the slogan write once, run anywhere. Small Java programs called applets could run inside web pages, which made Java famous very quickly. JDK 1.0 was released in January 1996.

Big Milestones

You'll learn what each of these features means later in the course. For now, notice that Java keeps improving instead of standing still.

Who Looks After Java Today

Oracle leads Java's development and owns the Java trademark. The actual code is developed in the open, in the OpenJDK project, with engineers from Oracle and from companies such as Red Hat, Microsoft, Amazon, IBM and SAP. New features go through a public process called JEPs (JDK Enhancement Proposals), so anyone can see what is coming next.

Check Your Java Version

Java tells you its own version. This small program prints the main version number of the Java that runs it.

public class JavaVersionNow {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int version = Runtime.version().feature();
        int ageOfJava = 2025 - 1995;
 
        System.out.println("You are running Java " + version);
        System.out.println("Java turned " + ageOfJava + " in 2025");
    }
}

You are running Java 25
Java turned 30 in 2025

How it works

1. Line 3 asks Java for its own version. Runtime.version() returns the full version, and .feature() keeps only the main number, such as 25.
2. Line 4 subtracts two years to get Java's age when Java 25 came out.
3. Lines 6 and 7 print both values.

The output above comes from Java 25. If you run it on your own computer with a different version, the first line shows that version instead.

Try it yourself: change 2025 on line 4 to the current year. What should the second line print now?

Interview Corner

Practice

1. Easy: Without looking, write down the year Java was announced, its first name, and the company that created it.
2. Harder: Find out which Java version your college lab or your company uses. Using the table above, name one feature that version has and one it doesn't.

Key Takeaways