Java Programming Language - Is it losing popularity?

Java’s future is on the wane – this is what experts as well as surveys are predicting about one of the world’s most popular software development languages. It is suggested that almost around three billion devices still run on Java. However, in the recent times, it has been at the receiving end of the users majorly due to its security issues. However, there are many reasons why it is preferred by the programmers during software development. There might be trouble in deciding its future owing to the business model promoted by Oracle but it is still a long way before the language completely ceases to exist.

One of the primary reasons why Java is considered useful is because it is an impressive server side language. For implementing infrastructure several big companies are still using it into their data centers and then integrating them to the mainframe and all other kinds of devices. This programming language has a well defined technology and backed by some of the most well known software companies in the world, like, Oracle and IBM. These companies still have a stronghold over the software market. Moreover, people who are looking to build systems with simple architecture definitely prefer this language. For instance, while developing a reservation system for the railways, Java will have complete edge over other software development languages, like, Python.

Java is a dynamic language. This factor makes it extremely popular with the developers who can create cross platform applications with it. There are end numbers of open source frameworks on which it can work efficiently as well as smoothly. In addition to this, Java is not only a language but it is also a platform. It is a perfect platform on which dynamic languages like Scala, Goovy and Ruby could easily run. Thus, if the programmers want to include dynamic languages in the infrastructure, now they can do it without a worry. The popularity of the handheld devices is also adding to the usability of Java. For the back-end applications, this is irreplaceable. The Android systems support Java and there is no escape from it when it comes to your smartphones. As a browser plugin, it might have lost its place but it is essential when it comes to Android development.

So what are the reasons for losing its popularity? Well, there are several reasons that are working against this software development language. In a world where technology is constantly being updated, Java does not receive frequent updates. Users do not update it even after the release of a new version. In more corporate set-up, the system admin might update but this rule does not apply for individual user devices.

Secondly, departing from Sun Microsystems also proved detrimental for the language. At Oracle there is lesser number of breakthrough and innovative technologies. The company has been struggling visibly with providing swift updates and fighting the security vulnerabilities. These problems occur when there is stagnation and not much has changed in this language since 2010. While it is lagging behind without new and innovative features, a host of new languages are ready to take its place. Python, C++, C#, Ruby and many more are gradually capturing the software development market with developers preferring the new versions over the older models.

Java did lose a significant number of followers in the past but to say it has completely lost its place would be an exaggeration. Rather, with the dominance of the cell phone usage, it has found its lost ground to a large extent. Google’s choice has provided a new lease of life to the waning popularity of Java. In addition to this, Oracle is putting in all the efforts to pep it up with new versions and other important releases. To conclude, it is still here to stay. You can get in touch with Java web application development companies who can help you develop web apps that are stable, scalable and secure.

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Servlet in Java - Features and Upgrades

For creation of dynamic web content, Java has a powerful as well as efficient solution in the form of Servlets. Within a short time span it has become a fundamental block for building of server-side Java. It uses Java as platform to interact with Servlet container. The developer is also provided with object-oriented programming, robust API, strict types, platform neutrality along with all JVM security features. Since its inception it has seen several upgrades. The most recent upgrade is from 2.5 to 3.0. There are rumours of a release of 3.1 version but nothing has been specified as yet. Till then, some of the features and upgrades of the current version has been described here.

Pluggability along with extensibility- These days there are several kinds of web frameworks being used for building of web applications. However, it is not easy to integrate them into web applications since various kinds of pieces must be assimilated together to edit single descriptor file which describes the fitting of the pieces. There are several issues in this regard which can now be easily resolved by virtue of this Servlet version. Now using as well as configuring any framework is really easy through modular web.xml or web fragments which need no configuration.

Easy development- Any technology is marked by the fact whether the development is easy or not. The API of the related technology here makes it easy for development through use of several brand new annotations. They have been defined in a way that allows writing a Servlet without the need of a descriptor. The annotations can be found in javax.servlet.annotation package. In fact, this addition has made it possible to ignore web.xml when there are ServletContectListener, Servlet amd Filter in a single war file. In all, the programming has become declarative-style, resulting in swift development of filter class or servlet through appropriate class annotations.

Security- Now methods to allow programmatic logout and login have been integrated through HTTPServletRequest. A login can be forced through ServletRequest as well. A request’s authentication state can be reset by the logout method without the bounding of authentication to some HTTPSession.

Asynchronous support- Asynchronous processing addition is often reckoned as the biggest change. At some point or the other, all developers have had to face the slow pace of the technology, specifically in those cases where a waiting time is involved for web service, JMS service response, etc. With the addition of support to suspend and resume request processing, the servlet can now process a request in non-blocking asynchronous manner. This feature helps in receiving or sending of unblocked data from client despite slow data. Delayed requests, responses can be handled as well. Even in case of non-blocking or blocking events, it can notify.

Dynamic or programmatic HTTP session configuration- Through this configuration an application can modify session configuration while still in use through API method calls or web.xml file configuration. There can be no changing of a cookie name that has been dynamically modified. The default cookie path can be changed for every application.

Some miscellaneous upgraded features- Besides the really important upgraded features mentioned above there are some other mixed bag add-ons worth mentioning which have made developer experience better and data retrieval easier. Some new convenience methods have been added to ServletRequest so that instances connected with the requested object can be got easily. Cookies can also be marked as HttpOnly ones which are unexposed to scripting code of client-side that helps prevent several kinds of cross-site scripting attacks. This feature is supported by majority of modern browsers.

These upgraded features are no doubt aimed to make the experience of using Java Servlets an easier as well as efficient one. It has improved the entire development experience by multiple times. Now it remains to be seen what other enhancements will be offered n the soon-to be released version. You can get in touch with Java software development companies who can help you develop web apps that are stable, scalable and secure.

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Why Java for Game Development?

The complex nature of game programming makes it essential for programmer to pick a programming language he is already proficient in. However, he still needs to consider several factors while choosing a programming language for the gaming project. Along with choosing an easy-to-learn language, the programmer also need to check if the language is fast and powerful enough for game development, compatible with game development APIs and libraries, and compatible with widely used platforms and devices. As a powerful object oriented programming language, Java meets all these criterions. There are also several features that make Java the best programming language for game development.

What Makes Java the Best Programming Language for Game Development?

Easy to Use: Java is much simpler to code and maintain than other programming languages. So the game developers can write, compile and debug the code without putting any extra effort. At the same time, the object-oriented feature of Java enables them to create modular programs and reuse the code. The game developer can rely on Java to curtail the game development and deployment time.

Compatibility: Java runs on a virtual machine called JVM. So the Java byte code can run smoothly on various widely used platforms. The feature makes it easier for game developers to create games that run on multiple platforms. As Java is platform-independent at both source and binary levels, it becomes easier for programmers to deploy the game by switching from one system to another.

Multithreaded: Most game developers opt for multithreaded programming languages to simultaneously perform several tasks within the game. Many programming language accomplish multithreading through operating system-specific procedures. But Java is designed with integrated multithreaded programming. That is why; it is one of the most effective programming languages to create timer-based game loop system. Also, programmers can avail the multithreading feature of Java to perform multiple tasks within the game at a time.

Large Amount of Libraries: The game developers also have option to avail a large collection of Java libraries. They can simply use a specific Java library to accomplish specific tasks without writing lengthy and complex code. Java 8 further enables developers to simplify their code using lambda expressions. The feature further helps them in writing code that is compact, simple and easy-to-maintain. The reduced boilerplate code improves the productivity of developers, while curtailing the game development time.

Option to Create Mesmerizing Graphics: Like other applications, games also use eye-popping graphics to keep the users engaged. The quality of the graphic can also have a direct impact on the game’s popularity. Java 8 comes with a graphics toolkit called JavaFX 8. The standard development kit includes innovative UI controls, HTML5 support, 3D graphics feature and embedded graphics stack. So it becomes easier for developers to optimize the overall look, feel and appeal of the video game by incorporating eye-popping images.

Java Game Development Tools: The game developers also have option to use several powerful Java game development tools. As Java is used widely for Android mobile apps and games, it also becomes easier for the developers to create games by targeting the most popular mobile platform. Some of the powerful 3-D game engines like jMonkeyEngine have made it easier for developers to create 3D worlds for games that run seamlessly on multiple platforms and devices. As these open source game engines are written in Java, these can be modified by the game programmers without using any other programming language.

Despite being used widely for web application development, Java is still considered by many game programmers to be unsuitable for video game development. But you will find several popular notable and popular video games designed using Java. It is always important to evaluate the features of Java according to the specific needs of the game development project to decide the right programming language. You can get in touch with Java application development companies who can help you develop web apps that are stable, scalable and secure.

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Java Versions - Features & Enhancements

Java, the software platform developed by Oracle has undergone a series of modifications as well as improvements, since the development of JDK or Java Development Kit version 1.0. All these modifications have seen the addition/incorporation of new features and enhancement of the existing ones, with a view to provide value added service to the users. Let us discuss some of the features as well as enhancements that the platform has undergone over the last few years.

However, before we get into the features, let us run through different versions of Java that have seen the daylight over the years. The endeavor of the language started in the year 1996 with the introduction of Java 1.0. The first version was followed by version 1.1 in 1997 and 1.2 in 1998. The subsequent years saw the introduction of versions 1.3, and 1.4 in 2000 and 2002, respectively. Years 2004 and 2006 saw the introduction of versions 5 and 6 respectively, while version 7 was introduced in mid 2011 followed by the version 8 in mid late 2012.

Speaking about the new features or enhancements, let us start with Spring Framework 4.0 that was introduced in 2004. The platform has seen major modifications since then. For example, Spring 2.0 version came up with XML namespaces along with AspectJ support. On the other hand, Spring 2.5 version featured configuration that is mainly annotation-driven. Again, Spring 3.0 was rich in a solid J 5+ foundation across its framework codebase along with certain other features like @Configuration model, that is mainly based on Java.

When we say that a configuration is annotation-driven, it means that it is a typical type of annotation wherein a certain type of processing is used that provides all the meta-data or configuration information in the J based source file.

The next in the line was version 4.0 that provides a full support for version 8. Yet, this also allows the use of Spring with the older versions as well, though for that the user would need at least SE 6.

Again, when we come to version 4.0, we see that many classes as well as methods have been removed. On the other hand the Spring 4.0 Framework comes up with a number of features that are supported by the version 8. Still, Spring has retained its compatibility with the previous versions of Java application Development Kit and Java. The bottom line is that it is pretty difficult to describe all the features or the enhancements of the language versions. Yet, let us get into a synopsis of them. JDK version 1.1 came up with JDBC (Java Database Connectivity), inner classes, Java Beans, RMI (Remote Method Invocation), Reflection.

J2SE Version 1.2 has come up with Collections Framework, Just In Time (JIT) compiler, Java String memory map for constants, Jar Signer to sign Java ARchive (JAR) files, Java Foundation Classes (JFC) consisting of Swing 1.0, Drag and Drop, and J 2D class library, CLOB, sets of scrollable result, batch update, BLOB, user-defined types of JDBC, J Plug-ins, Applet Audio support.

JDK Version 1.1 comes up with J Database Connectivity, Java Beans, Reflection, Remote Method Invocation. J2SE Version 1.4 features XML Processing, J Web Start, J Print Service, Assertions, JDBC 3.0 API, Chained Exception, Logging API, Preferences API, Assertions, Image I/O API, Regular Expressions, IPv6 Support.

J SE 6 contains Scripting Language Support, J Compiler API, JDBC 4.0 API, Pluggable Annotations, Integrated Web Services, integrated Web Services. LDAP support, Java GSS, Kerberos, Native PKI.

J SE 7 features Automatic null Handling, Binary Literals, underscore in literals, Diamond Syntax, J nio Package, Dynamic Language Support, Type Inference for Generic Instance Creation, Handling of Multiple Exceptions, Strings in switch Statement.

J SE 8 features include TLS SNI, Parallel operations, Concurrent Accumulators, Type Annotations, Nashhorn JavaScript Engine, Default Methods, Type Annotations, Date and Time API, Lambda Expressions, Pipelines and Streams.

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Why is Java the Preferred Language when It Comes to Banking Applications?

Several reports have highlighted that a large number of financial institutions and banks rely on Java as a high performance programming language to build mission-critical financial applications. Unlike other financial applications, banking applications need to be modified and updated frequently to meet the most recent guidelines issued by the Central Bank. At the same time, the banking applications also need to be scaled regularly to meet Service Level Agreement (SLA). As Java is designed to have minimum implementation dependency, it becomes easier for the banks to maintain and scale their applications in a flexible way. There are also a number of factors that make Java the preferred language for building banking applications.

What Makes Java the Preferred Language for Banking Application Development?

Platform Independent

The compatibility of a banking application will have a huge impact on the user experience. The financial institutions opt for a programming language that makes it easier to move from one computer systems. In addition to allowing enterprises to easily switch from one computer system to another, Java further enables them to run the same program smoothly on multiple systems. As the programming language is platform-independent at both source and binary levels, it becomes easier for the developers to optimize the banking application’s compatibility.

Multithreaded

As a banking app has to perform a number of different tasks at a time, it becomes complex and complicated. The developers rely on Java as it is a multithreaded programming language. It can be seamlessly integrated into systems, procedures and applications. Unlike other programming languages, Java does not enable multithreading by relying on operating system-specific procedures. Thus, the banking application can be integrated seamlessly with third-party services, systems and applications.

Facilitates Distributed Computing

Nowadays, most banking applications are being deployed in a distributed environment. So programmers have to explore ways to simplify distributed computing. Java comes with networking capability that is integrated into it. So it makes it easier for developers to adopt distributed computing. The programmers can use Java to write network programs just like sending and receiving data to/from a file.

Reliable and Secure

Java is also considered as one of the most secure and reliable programming language for creating financial apps. As it emphasizes on checking errors during the early stages, it becomes easier for programmers to deliver a flawless application. Java compilers can effectively identify the problems that will appear during the execution time in other languages. Likewise, Java language, runtime environment, compiler and interpreter are designed with features to optimize the security and accessibility of banking apps.

Adopt Cloud-Based Technologies

A constant increase is noted in the number of financial institutions adopting cloud-based technologies to curtail hardware cost. As a server side programming language, Java enables enterprises to switch to cloud computing without any hassle. While developing a banking application, the enterprise Java developers need to concentrate on where the code will be deployed. They only need to ensure that the code passes the required unit tests. Thus, Java helps enterprises in launching banking apps with virtual infrastructure.

Easy to Update Applications

As noted earlier, in comparison to other financial apps, banking applications need to be updated more frequently. Whenever there is a change in the Central Bank guideline or Service Level Agreement, the banking app needs to be updated to incorporate these changes. Further, the banking applications must be modified immediately to implement the changes without any delay. In comparison to other programming languages, Java programs can be written, compiled and debugged in a quick and hassle-free way. Thus, Java makes it easier for programmers to update the banking apps without any delay.

Many enterprises even opt for Java while creating banking application to save money. As Java is an open source technology, it can be used without paying licensing fees and royalty to Oracle. The open source nature makes it easier for small financial institutions to launch banking applications that delivers richer user experience, without requiring customers to pay additional fees.

You can get in touch with Java application development companies who can help you develop web apps that are stable, scalable and secure.

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Make software development easier with Java 7

Java 7 has been in the software development world for quite some time now. The variety of features, bug fixes as well as enhancements in it has led to improved efficiency in the development as well as running of Java programs when compared to Java 6. In fact, many developers have a love-hate relationship with the next version; but about the benefits of this particular version almost all of those people are unanimous. There are many features that have led to this intense popularity. Some of them have been discussed here.

One catch block with multiple exception- The very first feature that most people have fallen in love with when using this version is the fact that multiple Exception can be caught in a single catch block. This feature known as multicatch block is an important feature in Exception handling since it helps in reduction of clutter in the handling code.

String used in Switch case- Before Java 7, String could not be used in case or Switch statement. Now with the addition of Strings the switch instruction has become much friendlier. Previously the alternative was to use else/if/else if statements which had to be paired with string.equals calls. The alternative implemented now has resulted in a more compact and cleaner code.

Automatic resource management- Generally a developer closes resources like input/outstreams, files, connections, etc manually through bog-standard codes. However, with this version the resources can be managed automatically. The operation is quite simple too; just the resources have to be declared.

Type inference through Diamond operator <>- With the introduction of Generics, programmers had to face a couple of tough challenges- its verbose nature and that duplicate code was generated. With the feature called Diamond operator <> introduced in Java 7, type inference is provided when Generic classes’ object is created. This method is very easy for that purpose and is far better than the Factory method creation.

Invokedynamic, for support of non-Java languages- Invokedynamic is a bytecode that has been newly introduced. This feature has an exciting part; improved support is provided for compiling programs where dynamic typing is used. Dynamically typed languages such as bash scripts, Ruby, etc as well as statically typed ones like Java need such instructions for the support of these kinds of variables. Many kinds of languages that are not Java based are supported by JVM. However, with the support of this instruction, the JVM becomes more language independent. This acts as great news for those who love implementing components in various languages or want interoperability between the standard Java programs and those languages.

Fork Join framework- The existence of Fork join framework has been as an individual JSR even before the particular version of the language came into existence. Now the version has got an additional feature in the form of this framework and it has become a part of its standard core library. By virtue of this framework, developers will be able to write codes by taking benefit of multiple cores that are available in modern servers.

Improved version of File IO API- Java.nio package has gone through many changes and finally a new package has emerged known as java.nio.file. This package has several interfaces as well as classes like Paths, Path, FileSystems, FileSystem, etc. The new classes have helped improve a developer’s life when he or she attempts to work with several file systems. Static methods are also provided for operations which are file related; like an entire file can be read very easily through readAllLines. Symbolic links can be created as well by this class. Another important feature is the setting of file permissions for file systems that are POSIX compliant.

Looking at the list of features that Java 7 has, it leaves no doubts as to why it has become so popular among developers over the other versions. Moreover these are only a few of the most popular features. There are several more features which have made software development a much easier action. You can get in touch with a java web development company India who can help you develop web apps that are stable, scalable and secure.

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Know Java before Opting for Enterprise Java Services

Along with the conventional application, Java is nowadays also being used for creating enterprise, mobile and Cloud apps. So developers have to rely on Java Enterprise Services to deliver rich user experience. In a multi-tiered environment, the components of Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) can be installed on several client systems. However, the features of these J2EE components are completely different from standard Java program features. Further, a developer needs to use the Java Enterprise APIs to support a variety of network services and distributed computing technologies. So each developer must be familiar with the use of different Java APIs to use those as a building block to create robust enterprise applications.

Widely Used Java Enterprise APIs that Each Developer Needs to Know

Java Database Connectivity (JDBC): The Java Enterprise API is used by developers to work with relational database systems. But the API is independent of other vendor-specific APIs defined by specific database systems. Along with sending SQL query and update statement to the server, JDBC further allows the application to retrieve and iterate the results send by the server. Further, it provides Meta information related to the database and its tables. A custom driver needs to be implemented to make the application communicate with individual database server products.

Remote Method Invocation (RMI): As a programming model, RMI provides a high-level approach to distributed client-server computing. An enterprise application can use RMI to communicate with the server by invoking methods on objects that reside on the server. But the methods can be invoked by using the syntax for invoking local methods. Despite being comprehensive, the Java RMI implementation is both simple and easy-to-use. But it requires both client and server to be implemented using Java.

Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) Distributed Objects: The CORBA-based solution is used to invoke remote methods when the client and server are not implemented in Java. CORBA is also used as a standard by the packages and sub-packages of Java 2 platform in the org.omg.CORBA. The interface for CORBA objects are further described by the Interface Description Language (IDL) that is independent of both language and platform. A developer can also use Java implementations of the CORBA standard launched by Sun and other vendors.

Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI): The Java Enterprise API makes it easier for developer to work with networked directory and naming services. They can use the API to access name servers and directory servers, and look for data or objects base on their names or a set of specific attribute values. However, JNDI is not specific to any specific name or directory server protocol. As a generic API, JNDI can be used with a wide variety of name or directory servers.

Java Message Service (JMS): Most developers use the Java Enterprise API to work with networked messaging services. The API further allows them to write message-oriented middleware (MOM). However, message, in context of JMS, refers to a chunk of data that is transferred from one system to another. So the programmers can use messages as event notifications readable across systems. However, the JMS is a vendor-specific messaging service. So the developers have to install a JMS provider according to their message servers.

Java Transaction API (JTA): Normally, the distributed transactions make distributed enterprise systems more complex and complicated. The Java Transaction API is designed to help programmers in managing distributed transactions efficiently. As it works seamlessly with transaction services, it becomes easier for programmers to define individual Java bindings for each standard XA API for distributed transactions. Thus, the enterprise application can use the specific service to coordinate between different distributed transactions.

The individual as well as enterprise developers rely on API-based access to Enterprise Java data and services. These APIs further make it easier for the developers to build mobile and Cloud applications. So it becomes essential for programmers to understand how to manage these API processes efficiently. You can get in touch with a Java web application development companies who can help you develop web apps that are stable, scalable and secure.

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