The past few years document the following fact: The Web has irrevocably recast
the face of computing and programmers unwilling to master its environment will
be left behind.
The preceding is a strong statement. It is also true. More and more, applications
must interface to the Web. It no longer matters much what the application is, near
universal Web access is dragging, pushing, and coaxing programmers to program for
the online world, and Java is the language that many will use to do it. Frankly, fluency
in Java is no longer an option for the professional programmer, it is a requirement. This
book will help you acquire it.
Aside from being the preeminent language of the Internet, Java is important for
another reason: it has altered the course of computer language development. Many of
the features first mainstreamed by Java are now finding their way into other languages.
For example, the new C# language is strongly influenced by Java. Knowledge of Java
opens the door to the latest innovations in programming. Put directly, Java is one of the
world’s most important computer languages.