Java's Api and Libraries

Java API and Libraries

Most programmers are very quickly learning about the Java APIs, however it is much complicated behind the APIs’ interface. Programmers' preliminary models often show the shortest distance from problem to solution. Programmers are struggling when they work with APIs at the first time. There are many hidden complexities in the implementation upon a simple conceptual model.

The Java programming language, as we know it today, is supplemented by a large Application Programmer Interface, and available Libraries list. To begin, we must clarify the meaning of an API. The Java API is basically a set of collection classes and GUI classes written to run as an interface between the Java language and intended applications and operating systems. The actual API portion resides above the Java Virtual Machine and below the Interface Tools Kits. To function, every operating system or application comes with a ‘tool box’ filled with existing tools, subroutines, and pre-built GUI tools. When a programmer would like to interface with a Macintosh and create an application, he must use a Mac API to insure compatibility. The interesting feature of the Java API is its platform independent architecture. Java has the built-in ability interface with Linux, Windows, Macintosh, Solaris and others. This is due to the Java API calling the operating systems standard routines, not implementing them. Java can execute a program by calling on the standard routine in an OS, and thus saving the programmer from having to learn several different API’s to write a program. A complete list of Java the Java API is at: http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/docs/api/index.html. The other dynamic and critical piece of Java is the accompanying libraries.

In the reality, APIs are not simple to be implemented. Programmers need to consider the pitfalls; the conceptual model matches the complexity of the implementation to avoid the interface issues. On the other hand, Java’s API makes Java a diverse and growing language. The API can interface with multiple platforms making it a flexible and powerful developer tool.

Java contains a very robust library set. Like all modern programming languages, Java has a set of libraries, which can be imported and used in an application. Java libraries supplement the language to support specialized features a programmer may wish to use. For example, specialized libraries are used for mathematics, number formatting and special language usage. However, Java differentiates from most languages in three main categories. First, Java’s library set is very extensive; this is due to building upon previous