As the Java Programming is High Level Programming, it can be characterized by the following features.
1. Simple – Java is easy to learn and its syntax is similar to C and C++, which makes java easy to understand. According to Sun Microsystems, Java is a simple language because the syntax of Java is based on C++, which makes it easier for the programmer to learn java after C++.Java has removed ambiguous and confusing concepts of C++, for example, Pointers and Operator overloading are not part of the java. Unreferenced objects are removed in java with the help of an Automatic Garbage Collection.
2. Object-Oriented – In java, everything is an object which has some data and behavior. Java can be easily extended as it is based on Object Model. Following are some basic concepts of OOP’s.
3. Distributed – Java has distributed language because its programs can be designed to run on computer networks.Java has a special class library for communicating using TCP/IP protocols. Creating network connections is very much easy in Java as compared to C/C++.
4. Multithreaded – With the Multithreading feature of java, it is possible to write a program that can perform multiple tasks simultaneously. Multi-threading is advantageous because it doesn’t occupy memory for each thread. It shares a common memory area. Threads are important for multi-media, Web applications, etc.
5. Architectural Neutral – Compiler generates bytecodes, which have nothing to do with particular computer architecture, hence a Java program is easy to interpret on any machine.
6. Robust – Java is robust as it has strong memory management, moreover lack of pointers that avoids security problems. There is automatic garbage collection in java which runs on the Java Virtual Machine to get rid of objects which are not being used by a Java application anymore. There are exception handling and the type checking mechanism in Java. All these points make Java robust
7. Platform Independent – Unlike other programming languages such as C, C++, etc which are compiled into platform-specific machines. Java is guaranteed to be a write-once, run-anywhere language. On compilation, the Java program is compiled into bytecode. This bytecode is platform-independent and can be run on any machine, plus this bytecode format also provides security. Any machine with Java Runtime Environment can run Java Programs.
8. Secure – When it comes to security, Java is always the first choice. It enables us to develop a virus-free, tamper-free system. Java is secure because of no explicit pointer and Java programs run inside a virtual machine sandbox.
9. Portable – Having no implementation-dependent feature of the specification makes Java portable. Moreover, it facilitates you to carry the Java byte code to any platform.
10 . High Performance – Java is faster than other traditional interpreted programming languages because Java bytecode is “close” to native code. It is still a little bit slower than a compiled language (e.g., C++). Java is an interpreted language that is why it is slower than compiled languages, e.g., C, C++, etc.Java enables high performance with the use of just-in-time compiler.