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Java is a programming language which is very similar to c++ but more object oriented. By this, it is much easier to program objects in java but the low level options are much reduced. This is one of the strongest points of Java language, but it is also one of its weakest points as some programmers complain of the lack of “freedom”.

It was introduced by Solaris and it has become an standard for all platforms, although it is not licensed for Microsoft Platforms. Since some years ago, the license expired and it is not renewed anymore so, Microsoft Internet Explorer does not support java applets anymore without the aid of a third party add-on. For other platforms, it is licensed for Linux, Solaris and MAC OS, but although it is no longer licensed for Microsoft platforms, it is mostly used by Microsoft users.

Probably, the main characteristic of Java is its easiness to port from one platform to another. This is because most part of high level programming languages are coded on a machine code specific to a platform. In java, the instructions are similar but they are interpreted by a virtual machine called Java Virtual Machine or more commonly, JVM. This is because Java was developed as a programming language independent from  hardware, so that it will be running from the JRE (Java Runtime Environment) that is developed for every hardware. This way it will be usable by future machines even if they do not support the current programming, just by creating a JRE for that new machine.

Java programs have the bad reputation of being slow and more memory consuming than other programs coded in different languages, but this has been greatly improved in the later versions of Java. Although it is much faster in the latest versions, some of the updates have been heavily criticized because they made some of the instructions in past not usable for the new ones like for example when Generics were added.

About memory, Java implements a very important feature, the automatic memory management. Programmers have a heavy burden of managing the memory that is going to be used in most part of programming languages, but Java uses a system to automatically eliminate what is not needed anymore.

Although some of the programming languages allocate the stacks and the heap, the programmer is still the responsible to manage the memory and this may lead to memory leaks when a program tries to read from an object that it is not longer allocated. This can be prevented in other languages as well using smart pointers but they are difficult to use and the less a programmer wants is more complexity.

Another good and bad thing of Java is its orientation to objects. In java everything is an object and everything has a class except the most basic values. This is very important when you are programming with objects but makes it complicated to do some special things that should be done in low level programming. Although it is a completely different language, it keeps some familiarity with C++, mostly in the structure of the programs and syntax.