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Java operates on the principle of WORA — Write Once, Run Anywhere — which means that once a
Java program is written, it can run on any platform (such as Windows, Linux, macOS) without requiring
modification. Additionally, Java includes built-in features such as configurable security and file access
restrictions, allowing developers to implement robust security measures. Since Java can run on a
network, web browsers have incorporated the ability to execute Java applets within web pages, further
boosting Java’s popularity in web-based applications.

EVOLUTION OF JAVA

In 1991, a programming language called OAK (as there was an Oak tree outside the office of the
developers) was developed at Sun Microsystems for their set-top box project. Later, it was renamed
Java (derived from Java Coffee, a type of coffee found in Indonesia).

Let us consider the different versions of Java year-wise. Java's stable preview release i.e. JDK Beta was
available to public and on 23rd May 1995 Sun Microsystems officially released the first version of the
Java programming language to the public.. Form there, it kept on evolving gradually.

S. No. Versions Years
1 JDK Beta 1995
2 JDK 1.0 1996
3 JDK 1.1 1997

4 J2SE 1.2 1998
5 J2SE 1.3 2000
6 J2SE 1.4 2002
7 J2SE 5.0 2004
8 Java SE 6 2006
9 Java SE 7 2011
10 Java SE 8 2014
11 Java SE 9 2017
12 Java SE 10 & Java SE 11 2018
13 Java SE 12 & Java SE 13 2019
14 Java SE 14 & Java SE 15 2020
15 Java SE 16 2021
16 Java SE 18 & Java SE 19 2022
17 Java SE 20 & Java SE 21 2023
18 Java SE 22 and Java SE 23 2024

Note: JDK stands for Java Development Kit. J2SE stands for Java 2 Standard Edition.

There were some major goals in the development of the Java language:
It should be platform independent and multithreaded.

It must be dynamic and secure.
It must be architecture-neutral and handy.

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