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{{Cquote|Java is fun to use and practical. It removes tedious and error-prone parts of application development such as memory management and cross-platform porting.||| Jonni Kanerva (1997) "The Java FAQ"
{{Cquote|The success of Java itself would be in slow, deliberate entrenchment in the oatmeal world of enterprise software, the long-lasting collections of programs that together serve the needs of whole organizations. The Java language promised "write once, run anywhere" functionality, that is, code written for the JVM would run the same regardless of the underlying machine or operating system.<br><br>▼
Software companies spend a fortune building separate code for Windows NT, Windows 3.1, Linux, MacOS, Solaris, AIX, etc. This is a major headache for every IT shop. Java has achieved the greatest success in letting developers write Java code once for all platforms.||| Michael Byrne (February 2, 2016) [https://www.vice.com/en/article/8q8n3k/a-brief-history-of-the-java-applet The Rise and Fall of the Java Applet: Creative Coding’s Awkward Little Square] Vice }}▼
== History ==
=== Background ===
The origins of Java go back to 1990. The personal computer was in its ascendancy, and many inside and outside Sun thought the company had missed major opportunities in the desktop markets. Its high-end workstation and server markets were rolling along fine, but as PC use spread across the landscape, the company faced being stranded in a narrowing slice of the computer market. Sun machines had a reputation for being too complicated, too ugly, and too nerdy for mass consumption.
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If still vague, these principles were enough to get Gage's executive juice flowing. With his support, Naughton pitched the high concept to Wayne Rosing, then president of Sun Laboratories Inc.
Naughton laid down key demands that he'd scribbled on the back of a restaurant place mat : the project would be located offsite, away from corporate "antibodies" well known for attacking innovative ideas. The project's mission would be kept a secret from all but the top executives at Sun. The software and hardware designs would not have to be compatible with Sun's existing products, and for the first year, the team would be given a million bucks to spend.<ref>David Bank (December, 1995) "[https://web.archive.org/web/20050128063155/http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.12/java.saga.html The Java Saga]" Wired Magazine</ref>
=== StarSeven ===
The secret "Green Team", fully staffed at 13 people, was chartered by Sun to anticipate and plan for the next wave in computing. Their initial conclusion was that at least one significant trend would be the convergence of digitally controlled consumer devices and computers.<ref>Jon Byous (1998) "[https://web.archive.org/web/20050420081440/http://java.sun.com/features/1998/05/birthday.html Java Technology : The Early Years]" java.sun.com</ref>
{{Cquote|Gosling made the observation that computer chips were appearing in toasters, VCRs and many other household appliances, even in the doorknobs of their ski-lodge rooms. Yet three remote-control devices were needed just to get a TV, a VCR and a living-room sound system to work. Most people still couldn't program any of them. The wonder wasn't that chips were everywhere, but that they were being used so badly. "With a little computer science, all of these things could be made to work together," Gosling insisted. The Green team decided to build a prototype of a device that could control everyday consumer appliances. ||| David Bank (December, 1995) "[https://web.archive.org/web/20050128112539/http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.12/java.saga.html The Java Saga]" Wired Magazine}}
In the summer of 1992, they emerged with a working demo, an interactive, handheld home-entertainment device controller with an animated touchscreen user interface. The device was called StarSeven.
<blockquote>
StarSeven specifications<ref>James Gosling [https://web.archive.org/web/20050609085739/http://today.java.net/jag/old/green/ A Brief History of the Green Project]</ref> :
* SPARC based handheld wireless PDA with 5-inch color LCD with touchscreen input
* 16 bit (5 bit red, 6 bit green, 5 bit blue) color hardware double buffered NTSC framebuffer
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Later, they were trying to find a market for a StarSeven-type of device. The TV set-top box and video-on-demand industries seemed to make the most sense. Unfortunately, those industries were in their infancy and still trying to settle on viable business models.
===
{{Cquote|We were pitching the cable companies on the idea that this is what your network should look like. It was interactive, and users could read and write information into the system. But the companies didn't want to lose that much control.
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{{Cquote|While today's Web is mostly a static brew - a grand collection of electronically linked brochures - Java holds the promise of caffeinating the Web, supercharging it with interactive games and animation and thousands of application programs nobody's even thought of.||| David Bank (December, 1995) "[https://web.archive.org/web/20050420023839/http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.12/java.saga.html The Java Saga]" Wired Magazine}}
=== Netscape ===
{{Cquote|The public announcement of Java technology has been scheduled as a part of the keynote speech at the SunWorld show kick-off. But then, an unexpected turn of events ocurs.
It is about 4 am, in a Sheraton Palace hotel room down the street from the convention center. Sun's Eric Schmidt and George Paolini are shaking hands with Netscape's Marc Andreessen on an agreement to integrate Java technology into the Navigator browser.
Andreessen agreed to step out on stage during the morning's keynote speech and reveal the surprise agreement as part of the Java technology announcement. Most of the Java team didn't know the agreement has taken place until the moment Andreessen and the Sun execs walk on stage.|||Jon Byous (1998) "[https://web.archive.org/web/20050420081440/http://java.sun.com/features/1998/05/birthday.html Java Technology : The Early Years]" java.sun.com }}
=== Javascript ===
{{Cquote|Hype ensued. With that hype came JavaScript, a language whipped up by Netscape engineer Brendan Eich in 10 days in 1995 to be featured in the forthcoming Navigator 2.0. The JavaScript name usually taken to be a quick cash-in on the Java buzz of the time. JavaScript promised much of the same web functionality as Java.
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Finally, Java's corporate parent Oracle announced in 2016 that it's finally killing the Applet.|||Michael Byrne (February 2, 2016) [https://www.vice.com/en/article/8q8n3k/a-brief-history-of-the-java-applet The Rise and Fall of the Java Applet: Creative Coding’s Awkward Little Square] Vice }}
== References ==
▲{{Cquote|The success of Java itself would be in slow, deliberate entrenchment in the oatmeal world of enterprise software, the long-lasting collections of programs that together serve the needs of whole organizations. The Java language promised "write once, run anywhere" functionality, that is, code written for the JVM would run the same regardless of the underlying machine or operating system.<br><br>
▲Software companies spend a fortune building separate code for Windows NT, Windows 3.1, Linux, MacOS, Solaris, AIX, etc. This is a major headache for every IT shop. Java has achieved the greatest success in letting developers write Java code once for all platforms.||| Michael Byrne (February 2, 2016) [https://www.vice.com/en/article/8q8n3k/a-brief-history-of-the-java-applet The Rise and Fall of the Java Applet: Creative Coding’s Awkward Little Square] Vice }}
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