Java - History Review

Java is an object-oriented programming language developed by Sun Microsystems in the early 1990s. Java applications are, in the official implementation, compiled to bytecode, which is compiled to native machine code at runtime. Sun Microsystems provides a GNU General Public License implementation of a Java compiler and Java virtual machine, in compliance with the specifications of the Java Community Process.
The language itself borrows much syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities. JavaScript, a scripting language, shares a similar name and has similar syntax, but is not related to Java.

History:

Java was started as a project called "Oak" by James Gosling in June 1991. Gosling's goals were to implement a virtual machine and a language that had a familiar C/++ style of notation. The first public implementation was Java 1.0 in 1995. It promised "Write Once, Run Anywhere" (WORA), providing no-cost runtimes on popular platforms. It was fairly secure and its security was configurable, allowing network and file access to be restricted. Major web browsers soon incorporated the ability to run secure Java "applets" within web pages. Java became popular quickly. With the advent of "Java 2", new versions had multiple configurations built for different types of platform. For example, J2EE was for enterprise applications and the greatly stripped down version J2ME was for mobile applications.
In 1997, Sun approached the ISO/IEC JTC1 standards body and later the Ecma International to formalize Java, but it soon withdrew from the process.[2][3][4] Java remains a proprietary de facto standard that is controlled through the Java Community Process [5]. Sun makes most of its Java implementations available without charge, with revenue being generated by specialized products such as the Java Enterprise System. Sun distinguishes between its Software Development Kit (SDK) and Runtime Environment (JRE) which is a subset of the SDK, the primary distinction being that in the JRE the compiler is not present.
On November 13, 2006, Sun released parts of Java as Free/Open Source Software, under the GNU General Public License. The release of the complete sources under GPL is expected in the first quarter of 2007.
Releases:
The Java project has seen many release versions. They are:
JDK 1.1.4 (Sparkler) September 12, 1997
JDK 1.1.5 (Pumpkin) December 3, 1997
JDK 1.1.6 (Abigail) April 24, 1998
JDK 1.1.7 (Brutus) September 28, 1998
JDK 1.1.8 (Chelsea) April 8, 1999
J2SE 1.2 (Playground) December 4, 1998
J2SE 1.2.1 (none) March 30, 1999
J2SE 1.2.2 (Cricket) July 8, 1999
J2SE 1.3 (Kestrel) May 8, 2000
J2SE 1.3.1 (Ladybird) May 17, 2001
J2SE 1.4.0 (Merlin) February 13, 2002
J2SE 1.4.1 (Hopper) September 16, 2002
J2SE 1.4.2 (Mantis) June 26, 2003
J2SE 5.0 (1.5.0) (Tiger) September 29, 2004
Java SE 6 (1.6.0) (Mustang) December 11, 2006
Java SE 7 (1.7.0) (Dolphin) anticipated for 2008 More Details..