Why Java?
Java is, as it has been for over a decade, the most popular programming language in the world. And its popularity is growing. There are several good reasons for this:
- Java runs the same way on all computers
- It supports the object-oriented programming (OOP) paradigm
- It interfaces easily with other languages, including the database query language SQL
- Its Javadoc documentation is easy to access and use
- Most open-source software is written in Java, including that which is used for data analysis
Python may be easier to learn, R may be simpler to run, JavaScript may be easier for developing websites, and C/C++ may be faster, but for general purpose programming, Java can't be beat.
Java was developed in 1995 by a team led by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems. In 2010, the Oracle Corporation bought Sun for $7.4 B and has supported Java since then. The current version is Java 8, released in 2014. But by the time you buy this book, Java 9 should be available; it is scheduled to be released in late 2017.
As the title of this book suggests, we will be using Java in all our examples.