Java is a general-purpose computer language that is concurrent, class-based, object-oriented, and specifically designed to have as few implementation dependencies as possible. Its goal is to allow application developers to "write once, run anywhere" (WORA), which means that compiled Java code can be executed on all platforms that support Java without the need to recompile it. Java applications are generally compiled in bytecode that can be run on any Java virtual machine (JVM) regardless of the architecture of the computer. As of 2016, Java is one of the most popular programming languages in use, particularly for client-server web applications, with 9 million reported developers. Java was originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems (which was later acquired by Oracle Corporation) and launched in 1995 as a core component of the Sun Microsystems Java platform. The language derives much of its C and C ++ syntax, but it has less low-level facilities than any of them.
The original Java compilers and reference implementation, virtual machines and class libraries were originally released by Sun under proprietary licenses. As of May 2007, in compliance with the specifications of the Java Community Process, Sun re-licensed most of its Java technologies under the GNU General Public License. Others have also developed alternative implementations of these Sun technologies, such as the GNU Compiler for Java (compiler of byte codes), GNU Classpath (standard libraries) and IcedTea-Web (browser plug-in for applets).
The latest version is Java 9, released on September 21, 2017 and is one of the two versions currently supported for free by Oracle. Versions prior to Java 8 are compatible with businesses on a commercial basis; eg by Oracle back to Java 6 as of October 2017 (while still "we strongly recommend that you uninstall" pre-Java 8 from at least Windows computers).