Since its launch in 1995 by Sun Microsystems, Java has become one of the most important programming languages in the world. Designed with the principle of “write once, run anywhere,” Java has powered everything from mobile apps to massive enterprise systems.
Early versions like Java 1.0 and 1.1 laid the foundation with core features like applets and the AWT library for building GUIs. Java 2 (J2SE 1.2–1.4) introduced significant improvements, including the Swing toolkit and Collections Framework.
With Java 5 (also known as 1.5), came major upgrades like generics, annotations, and enhanced for-loops. Java 6 and Java 7 continued to enhance performance and add features like NIO.2 (New Input/Output).
Java 8, released in 2014, was a game-changer. It introduced Lambdas, Streams, and Functional Programming, making Java more powerful and expressive. Later versions like Java 9 (with modularity through Project Jigsaw), Java 10 (local-variable type inference with var), and Java 11 (a long-term support release) pushed Java further into modern development.
Today, with releases up to Java 21 (2023) and beyond, Java continues to evolve rapidly, adding new features like pattern matching, records, sealed classes, and major performance improvements — keeping it modern, secure, and ready for the future.
Java’s journey over the years shows why it remains a trusted, essential tool for developers worldwide.
