Okay, enough of the convoluted history of Java the island and Java the platform. And yes, that is Java, the platform.What began in 1995 as just another programming language is now formally known as a platform. Beginning as a platform-neutral, Internet-friendly development language, Java has evolved into a means of creating programs for just about anything. Let’s step back to the beginning and see how it came about.

Back in January 1991, a project by the name of Green began. The Green project’s purpose was to come up with a way of controlling set-top boxes, those smart cable TV access boxes. Because the hardware in the consumer devices was always changing, it became apparent to James Gosling, the “father” of Java, that C++ wasn’t appropriate for the job. As a result, the language called Oak was created; it was less susceptible to bugs and wouldn’t crash the whole system. It initially ran on a Hammer technology device called *7 (Star7). Cavorting across the touch screen was this little digital character named Duke, a helper agent, who would go off and do various tasks. (He later turned into the Java mascot.)

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