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原文Java2MicroEditionandtheWorldofJava1IntroductionThecomputerrevolutionofthe1970sincreasedthedemandforsophisticatedcomputersoftwaretotakeadvantageoftheever-increasingcapacityofcomputerstoprocessdata.TheCprogramminglanguagebecamethelinchpinthatenabledprogrammerstobuildsoftwarethatwasjustasrobustasthecomputeritranon.Asthe1980sapproached,programmerswerewitnessinganotherspurtintheevolutionofprogramminglanguage.ComputertechnologyadvancedbeyondthecapabilitiesoftheCprogramminglanguage.Theproblemwasn’tnew.Itoccurredpreviouslyandcausedthedemiseofgenerationsofprogramminglanguages.Theproblemwasthatprogramswerebecomingtoocomplicatedtodesign,write,andmanagetokeepupwiththecapabilitiesofcomputers.ItwasaroundthistimethatadesignconceptbasedonSimula67andSmalltalk(fromthelate1960s)movedprogrammingtothenextevolutionarystep.Thiswastheperiodwhenobject-orientedprogramming(OOP),andwithitanewprogramminglanguagecalledC++,tookprogrammersbystorm.In1979,BjarneStroustrupofBellLaboratoriesinNewJerseyenhancedtheCprogramminglanguagetoincludeobject-orientedfeatures.HecalledthelanguageC++.(The++istheincrementaloperatorintheCprogramminglanguage.)C++istrulyanenhancementoftheCprogramminglanguage,anditbeganasapreprocessorlanguagethatwastranslatedintoCsyntaxbeforetheprogramwasprocessedbythecompiler.Stroustrupbuiltontheconceptofaclass(takenfromSimula67andSmalltalk),fromwhichinstancesofobjectsarecreated.Aclasscontainsdatamembersandmemberfunctionsthatdefineanobject’sdataandfunctionality.Healsointroducedtheconceptofinheritance,whichenabledaclasstoinheritsomeoralldatamembersandmemberfunctionsfromoneormoreotherclasses—allofwhichcomplementstheconceptsofobject-orientedprogramming.By1988,ANSIofficialsstandardizedStroustrup’sC++specification.2EnterJavaJustasC++wasbecomingthelanguageofchoiceforbuildingindustrial-strengthapplications,anothergrowthspurtintheevolutionofprogramminglanguagewasbudding,fertilizedbythelatestdisruptivetechnology—theWorldWideWeb.TheInternethadbeenawell-keptsecretfordecadesbeforetheNationalScienceFoundation(whooversawtheInternet)removedbarriersthatpreventedcommercialization.Until1991whenitwasopenedtocommerce,theInternetwasthealmostexclusivedomainofgovernmentagenciesandtheacademiccommunity.Oncethebarriertocommercializationwaslifted,theWorldWideWeb—oneofseveralservicesofferedontheInternet—becameavirtualcommunitycenterwherevisitorscouldgetfreeinformationaboutpracticallyanythingandbrowsethroughthousandsofvirtualstores.BrowserspowertheWorldWideWeb.AbrowsertranslatesASCIItextfileswritteninHTMLintoaninteractivedisplaythatcanbeinterpretedonanymachine.AslongasthebrowseriscompatiblewiththecorrectversionofHTMLandHTTPimplementation,anycomputerrunningthebrowsercanusethesameHTMLdocumentwithouthavingtomodifyitforaparticulartypeofcomputer,whichwassomethingunheardofatthetime.ProgramswritteninCorC++aremachinedependentandcannotrunonadifferentmachineunlesstheprogramisrecompiled.ThesuccessoftheInternetgaverenewedfocustodevelopingamachine-independentprogramminglanguage.AndthesameyeartheInternetwascommercialized,fivetechnologistsatSunMicrosystemssetouttodojustthat.JamesGosling,PatrickNaughton,ChrisWarth,EdFrank,andMikeSheridanspent18monthsdevelopingtheprogramminglanguagetheycalledOak,whichwasrenamedJavawhenthisnewlanguagemadeitsdebutin1995.Javawentthroughnumerousiterationsbetween1991and1995,duringwhichtimemanyothertechnologistsatSunmadesubstantialcontributionstothelanguage.TheseincludedBillJoy,ArthurvanHoff,JonathanPayne,FrankYelin,andTimLindholm.AlthoughJavaiscloselyassociatedwiththeInternet,itwasdevelopedasalanguageforprogrammingsoftwarethatcouldbeembeddedintoelectronicdevicesregardlessofthetypeofCPUusedbythedevice.ThisisknownastheEmbeddedJavaplatformandisincontinuoususetodayforclosedsystems.TheJavateamfromSunsucceededincreatingaportableprogramminglanguage,somethingthathadeludedprogrammerssincecomputerswerefirstprogrammed.Theirsuccess,however,wasfarbeyondtheirwildestdreams.ThesameconceptusedtomakeJavaprogramsportabletoelectronicdevicesalsocouldbeusedtomakeJavaprogramsrunoncomputersrunningMicrosoftWindows,UNIX,andMacintosh.Timingwasperfect.TheInternet/intranethadwhettedcorporateAmerica’sappetiteforcost-effective,portableprogramsthatcouldreplacemission-criticalapplicationswithinthecorporation.AndJavahadprovenitselfasaprogramminglanguageusedtosuccessfullydevelopmachine-independentapplications.3JavaVirtualMachineWritingJavaprogramsissimilartowritingC++programsinthattheprogrammerwritessourcecodethatcontainsinstructionsintoaneditor,orinanintegrateddevelopmentenvironment,andthenthesourcecodeiscompiled.However,that’swhereJavaandC++partways.ThecompilingandlinkingprocessofaC++programresultsinanexecutablethatcanberunonanappropriatemachine.Incontrast,theJavacompilerconvertsJavasourcecodeintobytecodethatisexecutedbytheJavaVirtualMachine(JVM).Machine-specificinstructionsarenotincludedinbytecode.Instead,theyalreadyresideintheJVM,whichismachinespecific.ThismeansthatthebytecodemightcontainfewerinstructionsthatneedtobetranslatedthanacomparableC++program.AlthoughtheJavacompi