So What's New in Java?

(Warning/Disclaimer: Now we are getting into the realm of personal opinion. Although I have been an extremely interested observer of the Java development, have taught Java courses, and have written some small Java programs, I am by no means and expert in progamming languages/software design so my opinions should definitely not be considered as those of a knowledgable sage.

Not Much!

The Language

A well-designed, pure object-oriented language, but all the features can be found in earlier languages.

The Virtual Machine

The idea of a virtual machine for portability is not new. Used, for example, in the UCSD implementation of Pascal.
The idea of shipping code around the net also not new. One of my PhD students, Erich Kaltofen, was doing this ~10 years ago with his black box software. He was shipping source code, however, and compiling it on the target machine.
The security ideas in the JVM to help protect against untrusted applets might be new.

The Java Class Libraries

Embody many of the most important software design ideas of the past 25 years, but the ideas are not new.

So Why All the Fuss?

It's a MASTERPIECE of Software Design!

Like an architect that takes well-known materials and designs a wonderful new building, the Java architects have taken well-known ideas and designed a wonderful new software system that

makes formerly difficult tasks much easier to program. E.g.,
- GUIs and other graphics applications
- Multithreaded applications
- Networking applications including client/server applications
- Database applications
- 3D Graphics and virtual reality
- Visual programming with Java Beans
- Cryptographic applications

Provides a Pedadogical Framework Unlike Any Seen Before

with its high level of abstraction that enables students to quickly learn how to write programs with graphics, multiple threads, networking, databases, etc. This allows an instructor in these complex areas to illustrate the important, big concepts of an application area (and more importantly allows the students to write programs using the big, over arching ideas) that provides a framework for studying these areas. That is, it makes it possible to study these topics from the top-down instead of the more traditional bottom up approach of starting out with many details (that were initially hard to motivate) and build up to the big concepts.

What Are The Implications?

Programming will never be the same again.

Java will influence the design of all new software systems for the forseeable future.

Computer science instruction will never be the same again.

Students will now learn complex concepts much more quickly.