Key Skills & Concepts
The rise of the Internet and the World Wide Web fundamentally reshaped computing. Prior to the Web, the cyber landscape was dominated by stand-alone PCs. Today, nearly all PCs are connected to the Internet. The Internet, itself, was transformed—originally offering a convenient way to share files and information. Today it is a vast, distributed computing universe. With these changes came a new way to program: Java.
Java is the preeminent language of the Internet, but it is more than that. Java revolutionized programming, changing the way that we think about both the form and the function of a program. To be a professional programmer today implies the ability to program in Java—it is that important. In the course of this book, you will learn the skills needed to master it.
The purpose of this chapter is to introduce you to Java, including its history, its design philosophy, and several of its most important features. By far, the hardest thing about learning a programming language is the fact that no element exists in isolation. Instead, the components of the language work in conjunction with each other. This interrelatedness is especially pronounced in Java. In fact, it is difficult to discuss one aspect of Java without involving others. To help overcome this problem, this chapter provides a brief overview of several Java features, including the general form of a Java program, some basic control structures, and operators. It does not go into too many details but, rather, concentrates on the general concepts common to any Java program.