3: Mainline

Java has captured the interest and attention of programmers because certain features—conceived in the expectation that programmers would use Java to build programs for consumer electronics—happen to make Java the ideal language for building programs for use on computers connected to the Internet:

• Java programs run on a wide variety of hardware platforms.
• Java programs can be loaded dynamically via a network.
• Java provides features that facilitate robust behavior.

In addition, Java has features that make it an excellent language even for applications that have nothing to do with networks:

• Java is a thoroughly object-oriented language.
• Java programs can work on multiple tasks simultaneously.
• Java programs automatically recycle memory.