Why is Java a Platform Independent Language?

Java is a set of specifications and software created by James Gosling and Sun Microsystems, which provides a system for developing apps and deploying them in a cross-platform environment. 

The interesting question is why they designed it as a cross-platform, and how does it achieve its platform independence? 

One of the reasons why Java is so popular is actually the platform independence. Java is immensely popular, and some statistics show that as of 2020, more than 8 million software engineers use Java worldwide. That is why developers are in huge demand. Another reason why it’s hard sometimes to hire a developer since there isn’t a talent shortage, but developers are busy working a lot today. 

Anyway, let’s see which are the origins of Java as a cross-platform, why it is platform-independent, and also how it was achieved.

Cross-platform Origins

First, let’s explain what it means. Cross-platform, also called platform-independent software or multi-platform software, is computer software whose purpose is to work in various computing platforms. Some cross-platform software needs a separate build for every platform, and others can be directly run on any different platform without special preparation. These types of software can run on many platforms, as few as two. 

So let’s see why Java became a platform-independent language. 

As mentioned earlier, Java was created and developed by Sun Microsystems. This computer company was very popular in the ’90s and was able to get several competitors like Silicon Graphics Cray Business Systems Division, Praxsys Technologies, and Trancept Systems. And because it acquired various contrasting computer architectures, the company started to support different programming languages that all worked differently, and also, they all functioned on different operating systems. 

So this situation forced, or it is better to say, challenged Sun Microsystems to develop something different. This brought the company to a state where they invested in developing a single programming language that will work on various computer architectures and operating systems. 

This project was called the Green Project, from which later came the Oak development API that became the platform-independent Java language. So Java is platform-independent because it simply doesn’t depend on any type of platform. This means that it can run on all platforms with JVM, and this stands for prime operating systems like Mac Os, Linux, Windows, Android. 

How is This Achieved?

For example, programming languages like C++ compile straight into binaries and executables that run only on specific hardware architecture or operating systems, making the C++ platform-dependent. So, if you write a program in C++, it is directly compiled in executables known as machine code or binary code, and this code is understood only by the platform that is compiled upon. In addition, if it is compiled on Windows, the executable binary code will be generated only to that program, and it will be specific only to Windows. There is no option to be made to run on any different or other platforms like Linux, Mac, etc.

This is the moment where Java programming is different, and hence why it is not platform-specific. 

The Java compilation generates a bytecode that has a high-level set of machine instructions that are sufficiently general to not be platform-specific. This is made with the JVM, the Java Virtual Machine, which is not a cross-platform technology but has to be installed to run the bytecode. The role of JVM while the Java program runs is to interpret the bytecode and generate native machine code that is consumed by the central processing unit. 

To run Java platform-independent programs, every operating system or architecture needs a specifically built and designed Java Virtual Machine. So basically, Java gives a massive advantage to the java developer because it can be run on all platforms. 

Programming has made a lot of things and it is safe to say that the same will be used in the future to make AI empathize among other things.

Conclusion

We saw what cross-platform is in general and also the cross-platform origins of Java.

It is interesting to learn which process led to Java becoming a platform-independent programming language. Since you now know why and how Java is platform-independent, you should start exploring more and more all the other unique features that Java has and start using them. Java gives enormous opportunities, so start to learn how to become better and be part of the worldwide Java community.