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Debian Java FAQ.
Chapter 2 - Introduction to Java

2.1 What is Java?

Java is a strongly-typed platform-independent object-oriented programming language often associated with the World Wide Web. Java was developed by Sun Microsystems (now Oracle) for embedded applications, but has since grown to become a general-purpose programming language. Java source code can either be compiled to a machine-independent byte-code that can be run by Java virtual machines, or it can be compiled directly to executable code for any number of platforms, including Linux, Win32, and others.

A common API, shipped with all Java development environments, provides socket support, a graphical user interface widget set, graphical drawing tools, standard IO, events, math, database interfaces, and multithreading, to name a few.

The multithreading support can happen either in kernel threads or userland threads, depending on the implementation of the Java virtual machine used.

Of course, Java is also the name of a popular island of Indonesia: check out the facts at Wikipedia.

2.2 Why would I be interested in Java?

Java is widely used in large and small scale distributed, server, and client applications. It's fun to use. The javadoc tool creates documentation from comments in the code, so if you comment your code you get the docs for free.

2.3 What is a JIT?

JIT is an acronym for Just In Time. It refers to a VM plugin to speed up VM execution by compiling bytecode to native machine code.

2.4 Where can I read more about Java?

Of course, http://java.sun.com would be the first place to read information on Java, right from the company who started it (i.e. Sun). However good places for Java and Linux could be:

• Sun's Java Technology on the Linux Platform pages.

• GNU's Java software

• Enterprise in a Nutshell by Gary Meyer, at http://en.tldp.org/HOWTO/Enterprise-Java-for-Linux-HOWTO.html. Explains how to set up an environment including JDK, web server, Java servlets, JDBC access to a database and EJBs. If you are interested read also Java Enterprise in a Nutshell at http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/jentnut/.

• The Linux Journal Magazine, the following articles might be worth reading:

  • Issue 105 Compiling Java with CGJ

  • Getting Started with Java on Linux

  • Issue 94 Embedded Linux and Java--Wave of the Future?

  • Using and Writing Java Servlets

  • Issue 66 Java servlets and Java 2 SDK.

• The Linux Gazette Magazine, the following articles might be useful:

  • Issue 87 A Keep-Alive Program You Can Run Anywhere

  • Issue 69 Installing Tomcat on Linux

  • Issue 48 Linux, Java and XML

  • Issue 45 Setting Up A Java Development Enviroment For Linux

  • Issue 33 http://tldp.org/LDP/LG/issue33/burtch.html

  • Issue 32 Java and Linux

  • Issue 25 http://tldp.org/LDP/LG/issue29/hamilton.html

• LinuxFocus, a free multilingual journal:

  • March 2003: Accessing PostgreSQL through JDBC via a Java SSL tunnel

  • January 1999: Programming with Java, part II

  • July 1998: Programming with Java, part I

• The Java-CGI HOWTO from David H. Silber at http://en.tldp.org/HOWTO/Java-CGI-HOWTO.html explains how to set up your server to run Java CGIs. Maybe it is worth looking at servlets.

• Java Programming on Linux, by Nathan Meyers, website at http://www.javalinux.net/, which is a book devoted to the topic of using Java on Linux (there's no online version of it, though)

Other sites regarding Java would be:

• The Java Lobby http://www.javalobby.org.

• Brewing Java: a tutorial at http://metalab.unc.edu/javafaq/javatutorial.html.

If you are browsing the web for free Java information you can of course use Google. If you are looking for applets with source code look at http://javaboutique.internet.com/javasource.html. Check also What free platforms are there and how can I contribute?, Section 6.2 for pointers to the free Java platforms available, which might or might not be listed in GNU's webpages devoted to Java.

2.5 Where can I ask questions about Java on Debian?

The appropriate place to ask such questions is debian-java at lists.debian.org. You can subscribe at the Debian Mailing Lists page.

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Debian Java FAQ.