Java is one of the hyped-up Internet software technologies that have spawned the World Wide Web, awful words like "intranet", and those strange-looking addresses on business cards and TV commercials. Originally known as a way to jazz up Web pages with graphic animations -- stock tickers that crawl across your screen, for example, and dancing icons -- Java has quickly evolved into a whole lot more. To Microsoft''s dismay, it

is fast becoming what is known as a computing platform -- a sturdy base upon which programmers can build software applications.

Java is making possible the rapid development of versatile programs for communicating and collaborating on the Internet. We''re not just talking word processors and spreadsheets here, but also applications to handle sales, customer service, accounting, databases, and human resources -- the meat and potatoes of corporate computing. Java is also making possible a controversial new class of cheap machines called networkcomputers, or NCs, which Sun, IBM, Oracle, Apple, and others hope will proliferate in corporations and our homes.

The way Java works is simple. Unlike ordinary software applications, which take up megabytes on the hard disk of your PC, Java applications, or "applets", are little programs that reside on the network in centralized servers. The network delivers them to your machine only when you need them; because the applets are so much smaller than conventional programs, they don''t take forever to download.

Say you want to check out the sales results from the Southwest region. You''ll use your Internet browser to find the corporate intranet Website that dishes up financial data and, with a mouse click or two, ask forthe numbers. The server will zap you not only the data, but also the sales-analysis applet you need to display it. The numbers will pop up on your screen in a Java spreadsheet, so you can noodle around with themimmediately rather than hassle with importing them to your own spreadsheet program.

To graph the numbers, you''ll call in a charting applet that will let you print out your report nice and pretty, all without leaving your browser. And you''ll always get the latest, greatest version of the applets

too: Since the software is stored in only one place, corporate technicians can keep it up to data more easily.

The real beauty of the Java language, however, is its power to save users money, because it vastly

simplifies creating and deploying applications and because it lets them keep their existing "legacy"

computers and software. Java programs, once written, can run without modification on just about any kind of computer: a PC, a Macintosh, a UNIX workstation -- heck, even a mainframe. The underlying operating system makes no difference. Java actually can breathe new life into older specialized computers that were at risk of becoming obsolete.

In scarcely a year, Java has evolved into a major challenger to Microsoft''s Windows family of PC operating systems -- faster even than DOS and Windows rose to challenge traditional mainframes and

minicomputers. Java is also well on its way to becoming the most important Internet software standard,

catapulting Sun past Netscape and Microsoft as the leader in Internet computing.

何謂Java?(中文)

Java是灸手可熱的Internet軟件技術(shù)中的一種，而這些技術(shù)孕育了World Wide Web、"內(nèi)部網(wǎng)"一類令人生畏的詞兒以及名片上和電視廣告中那些怪模怪樣的地址。最初，它是以一種利用圖形動畫來活躍Web頁面的一種方法聞名，例如，股票報(bào)價(jià)從屏幕上慢慢移動和跳躍的圖標(biāo)，Java很快全面介入。令微軟公司驚愕的是，它很快成了一種被稱作計(jì)算平臺的東西--一個(gè)能讓程序員開發(fā)應(yīng)用軟件的堅(jiān)實(shí)基礎(chǔ)。

Java正在使快速開發(fā)Internet上通信與協(xié)同工作的通用程序成為可能。這里，我們不僅是談?wù)撟痔幚?、電子?shù)據(jù)表，而且是能夠處理銷售、客戶服務(wù)、記帳、數(shù)據(jù)庫和人事資源管理的應(yīng)用程序--它們是公司計(jì)算的基礎(chǔ)。Java也使?fàn)幷撝械囊活愋碌姆Q之為網(wǎng)絡(luò)計(jì)算機(jī)(即PC)的便宜計(jì)算機(jī)成為可能，SUN、IBM、Oracle、Apple和其它公司希望這種計(jì)算機(jī)將在公司和家庭中普及開來。

Java工作的方法簡單。與那些要占用PC機(jī)硬盤多兆字節(jié)的普通應(yīng)用軟件不一樣，Java應(yīng)用程序，即小應(yīng)用程序，是很小的程序，它常駐在網(wǎng)絡(luò)中集中式的服務(wù)器上。只有當(dāng)你需要這種應(yīng)用程序時(shí)，網(wǎng)絡(luò)才把它們送到你的機(jī)器上;由于小應(yīng)用程序比常規(guī)程序小得多，故下載不需很多時(shí)間。

比方說，你要檢查一下西南地區(qū)的銷售結(jié)果。利用Internet瀏覽器找到能提交財(cái)務(wù)數(shù)據(jù)的公司內(nèi)部網(wǎng)Web點(diǎn)，再用鼠標(biāo)器點(diǎn)擊一下或兩下，便可調(diào)這些數(shù)字。服務(wù)器將不僅快速給你數(shù)據(jù)，而且給出顯示它所需的銷售分析小應(yīng)用程序。這些數(shù)字在Java數(shù)據(jù)表中將浮現(xiàn)到你的屏幕上，因而你能即興地使用它們，而不是麻煩地把它們調(diào)入你自己的數(shù)據(jù)表程序中。

為用圖形表示這些數(shù)字，你可以調(diào)入作圖表的小應(yīng)用程序，讓你漂漂亮亮地打印出報(bào)表來，而所有這些不必離開瀏覽器。你也能得到最新最好的小應(yīng)用于程序版本：因?yàn)檫@種軟件只存儲在一個(gè)地方，公司的技術(shù)人員可較容易地使其保持最新。

然而，Java語言的真正優(yōu)點(diǎn)是具有讓用戶省錢和省力，因?yàn)樗蟠蠛喕藨?yīng)用程序的開發(fā)與部署使用，而且讓它們保留已有的"傳統(tǒng)"計(jì)算機(jī)和軟件。Java程序一旦寫好了，就能在任何一種計(jì)算機(jī)(PC機(jī)、Macintosh機(jī)、Unix工作站甚至是大型機(jī))上無須修改就能運(yùn)行。基本的操作系統(tǒng)是沒有差別的。Java實(shí)際上給予了那些較舊的專用計(jì)算機(jī)(有變成廢品風(fēng)險(xiǎn)的產(chǎn)品)新的生命。

在不到一年的時(shí)間內(nèi)，Java已成了微軟的PC操作系統(tǒng)Windows系列的主要挑戰(zhàn)者，比DOS和Windows挑戰(zhàn)傳統(tǒng)的大型機(jī)和小型機(jī)的速度還要快。Java也在成為最重要的Internet軟件標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的道路上迅跑，使Sun超過Netscape和微軟成為Internet計(jì)算的領(lǐng)袖。