What Is Java Used For: 12 Real World Java Applications

This tutorial explains what is Java used for. We will discuss the top real-world Java Applications including tools & technologies based on Java:

Since its development in 1995 by Sun Microsystems and in subsequent years, the language has become a backbone as far as millions of applications are concerned.

According to Oracle (that took over Java from Sun), almost 3 billion devices irrespective of their platform (whether it is Windows, Mac OS, UNIX, or Android) use Java for development. Apart from these, even in areas like enterprise solutions and embedded systems, Java has made its mark.

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Today Java programming language is one of the most extensively used languages that is fast emerging in the software world. We find many applications of Java language in almost all the fields, be it an application or web development, big data, Artificial Intelligence, mobile development, etc.

Applications Of Java

We have summarized the applications of Java programming language in the following diagram:

Let’s now discuss some in detail;

#1) Desktop GUI Applications

Java language provides a lot of features that help us to develop GUI applications. Java provides AWT, Swing API or Java Foundation Classes, or the latest JavaFX (from Java 8 onwards). These APIs/features help us develop advanced GUI applications including advanced tree-based or even 3D graphical applications.

Real-world desktop tools developed using Java:

• Acrobat Reader
• ThinkFree

#2) Web Applications

Java provides features for web development as well as Servlets, Struts, Spring, hibernate, JSPs, etc. that allow us to develop highly secured easily program software.

Real-World Web Tools using Java:

• Amazon
• Broadleaf
• Wayfair

#3) Mobile Applications

Java language provides a feature named J2ME which is a cross-platform framework to build mobile applications that can run across Java-supported smartphones and feature phones.

One of the popular mobile operating systems Android is developed using Java-based Android SDK.

Popular Java-based mobile apps:

• Netflix
• Tinder
• Google Earth
• Uber

#4) Enterprise Applications

Java is the first choice for developing enterprise programs mainly because of its powerful features delivering high performance. Apart from performance, Java also makes applications more powerful, secure, and easily scalable.

Java language has the Java Enterprise Edition (Java EE) platform that comes with API and runtime environment features for scripting and running enterprise software, network tools, and web services.

According to Oracle, almost 97% of enterprise computers are running on Java. The higher performance and faster computing provided by Java have resulted in most enterprise applications being developed in Java.

Real-time Enterprise Applications using Java:

• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems
• Customer Resource Management (CRM) systems

#5) Scientific Applications

Java has powerful security and robustness features that make it popular for developing scientific applications. Java also provides powerful mathematical calculations that give the same results on different platforms.

Most popular Java-based scientific tool:

• Mat lab

#6) Web Servers & Applications Servers

The entire Java ecosystem has numerous applications and web servers as of today. Among web servers, we have Apache Tomcat, Project Jigsaw, Rimfaxe Web Server (RWS), Jo! Etc. dominates the space.

Similarly, application servers like WebSphere, JBoss, WebLogic, etc. are dominating the industry commercially.

#7) Embedded Systems

Embedded systems are low-level systems that form a part of the larger electromechanical systems. These are tiny chips, processors, etc., and are also called integrated systems.

Java can produce robust tools that can handle application exceptions efficiently and are fast too as it is better for developing low-level programs.

Embedded systems applications using Java:

• SIM cards use Java technology
• Blue-ray disc player

#8) Server Apps In Financial Industry

Financial institutions like banks and investors need various software programs to run their day-to-day business like front and back office electronic trading systems, writing settlement and confirmation systems, data processing, etc.

Java is mostly used for these tools to write server-side applications that receive data from one server, process it, and send the processed data to the other servers or processes.

Most of the leading financial institutions like Barclays, Citi group, Goldman Sach, etc. use Java-based software tools for their business.

#9) Software Tools

Many software tools used for development are written in Java. For example, IDEs like Eclipse, IntelliJ IDEA, and Net beans are all written and developed in Java.

These are also the most popular desktop GUI-based tools used today. Earlier swing and AWT were the features that are mostly used to develop Software but nowadays JavaFx has become more popular.

#10) Trading Applications

The popular trading application Murex, which is used in many banks for front-to-bank connectivity, is written in Java.

#11) J2ME Apps

Apart from iOS and android based mobile handsets, there are handsets from Nokia and Samsung that use J2ME. J2ME is also popular with products like Blu-ray, Cards, Set-Top Boxes, etc. The popular application WhatsApp available on Nokia is available in J2ME.

#12) Big Data Technologies

Big data is the most popular and trending topic in the software industry today. Big data deals with analyzing and systematically extracting information from complex data sets.

An open framework that is associated with Big data is called Hadoop and is entirely written in Java. With features like automatic garbage collection, memory distribution, and stack provision system, Java gets an edge over other technologies. We can safely say that Java is the future of Big data.

Real-time Java-based Big data Technologies:

• Hadoop
• Apache HBase
• ElasticSearch
• Accumulo

Most Popular Java Frameworks

Frameworks are tools that are used to develop applications. A framework is developed to make the developer’s life simpler and free of coding hazards so that developers can focus on business logic rather than coding jargon.

Choosing a particular framework for development depends on the tool that we are developing. If an application requires a lot of UI design, then we may choose a framework that provides rich UI developing tools and API.

Similarly, if we want to build a web application, we will choose a framework that provides a range of web APIs. So choosing the right framework depends mostly on applications being developed, visual aspects, database support, and other factors.

In this section, we will present brief information on some of the popular Java frameworks that are widely used in today’s time.

We do not claim that one framework is better than the other; this is just a list that provides us with handy information regarding various Java frameworks.

We have shown only the main features of each of the frameworks presented above. Each of these frameworks specializes in developing a range of Java applications from the web to rest applications.

Further Reading => List of the TOP Java Project Ideas for Beginners

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

As we have already seen in this tutorial, Java is the most popular language in the software world today and you can find its applications in almost every field. Because of its high performance and robustness as well as its security features, Java is mostly used in banking applications.

Java is also emerging as the preferred language in the Big data field which is trending today. Having seen the applications of Java in the future tutorials we will discuss the major differences between Java and a few other programming languages before jumping to Java topics in detail.

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