For our story for this month we again visit the television programs I remember form my past. The TV channel I enjoyed the most was the public supported station PBS (Public Broadcasting System) or in the UK the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation). These are station that are supported by federal tax money and from local community contributions.
There was a program called “Connections” hosted by James Burke. Connections told the story of how two different technologies where combined to create a new technology. The show tracked over a period of centuries the history of two technology and how they were combined in modern times to create a new idea.
An example would be that you can’t make a sword until you know how to melt and cast metal. You can’t make a light bulb until you have produced and can distribute electricity. Or you can’t write Java code if computers where never invented.
So let’s follow the track of Java. Where did it come from and how was the light bulb turn on in the mind of James Gosling, the inventor of Java. For that answer we can ask ourselves a series of questions: “If there was no …? Then there is no invention of …” If there is no computers there is no Java. If there is no transistors there is no computers. If there is no periodic table there is no transistors. If there is no chemistry the is no periodic table.
Now we need a companion track. For this I will use the invention of the notes and staff used to write code for music. What are the technologies that had to proceed the invention of the language of music?
Why do I choose music as the companion track? Music is a language. Music appeals to the right side brain. Music is standard all over the world. And where did James Gosling see the light bulb? At a rock concert . The right brain made a connect with the left brain. Java! Music! — Logic! Beauty! Yes, a computer language that is like the music language. Runs anywhere and universal to all users.
Was the idea of an intermediate byte code (Java compiles to a byte code that is then interpreted by the virtual machine) a new idea for Java. No, I remember that Pascal had compiler that generated a intermediate code called p-code. A new idea is not necessarily new. I could be just a better fit to the task at hand.