CHAPTER 5 — Introduction to Java

The previous chapters have discussed computer hardware, computer software, bits and bytes, machine language, language translation, language interpretation, and virtual machines. This chapter assumes that you know all that and are ready to look at Java.

Chapter Topics:

• Hello World program.
• Java Bytecodes.
• Java compiler and Java virtual machine.
• Using Notepad to create a source program.
• Running a Java program.

These notes are written for Java^TM 2 SDK Standard Edition version 1.3 or higher. The current release is version 1.4.2 (as of June, 2003). Earlier versions will usually work for these notes and may be easier to obtain (perhaps on a CD that came with a book.)