Java also powers a number of applications built specifically for the web. All sorts of applications, from wildly popular games like Minecraft to the Eclipse integrated development environment used by developers for many different languages and platforms, run on Java. You also might be using Java on your desktop without even knowing it. Android, Linux-derived open source operating system powering millions of mobile devices around the world, uses the Java language along with its own special set of libraries as the basis for mobile applications built for its platform. Java can be found in all sorts of places, perhaps even in your pocket or on your wrist. Other than a part of the name, the two don’t share much in common.

While both languages are now found in numerous environments, JavaScript, which is most commonly used to power interactivity inside of a web browser, is a different tool completely. Code from other languages which is designed specifically for the JVM, like Groovy and Scala, can also run on the Java virtual machine.īe careful not to confuse Java with JavaScript. While the Java language and the Java virtual machine which runs Java code are closely paired, the two are separate. Unlike some other languages which came before it, which implemented classes but did not require their use, Java programs are always designed with an object-oriented design. The Java programming language itself is an object-oriented language, which is syntactically similar to C++.

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