Java 5: Unleash the Tiger on Your Next Project 1, 2...5?!? Kyle Gabhart
Introduction
On May 23rd, 1995, Sun Microsystems announced the public release of the Java technology. Since that time, we have seen the Java platform evolve from a simple desktop and browser-based technology into a robust, distributed enterprise technology. As we enter the fourth quarter of 2004, the latest version of the Java Standard Edition platform, codenamed "Project Tiger," has just been released as Java 5.
If you're wondering what happened to Java's 3 and 4, read on. We'll be covering a faster way to count to five, followed by an exploration of the new features available with Java 5, and closing with an overall analysis of the new release.
1, 2...5?!?
In the cult classic, Monty Python and The Holy Grail, there is a scene where King Arthur decides to use the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch to fight a viscous rabbit. Brother Maynard reads the instructions for the use of the grenade and goes into great length to indicate that you should pull the pin and count to three ("Three shall be the number of the counting, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceedest on to three..."). In spite of these explicit instructions, King Arthur pulls the grenade pin and counts: "1,
2, 5!".
It would appear as though Sun's marketing team has taken counting lessons from this film. The first production release of Java was version 1.0.2. The next release was Java 1.1. Then there were a series of incremental 1.1.x releases. When Java 1.2.1 was released, the platform was renamed Java 2 to reflect the substantial changes in the platform between the 1.1.x releases and the 1.2.x releases. The Java 1.3.x and Java 1.4.x releases were also a
part of the Java 2 platform. Now that Java 1.5.0 has made its final release, a new name is being used to indicate the substantial changes that have been made in the platform. That new name is Java 5 (known officially as "J2SE 5.0") — 1, 2...5!
