Corporate Intranet

Since its first implementation in 1995, Java has gone from strength to strength and now leads the way in both online and offline application. If you're new to Java, or considering specialising in Java, the chances are that you've already been introduced to it. As a language powering online applications, you will no doubt have used a Java driven application whilst chatting, playing games, or conducting online banking to name just a few implementations. It has become an integral part of intranet applications and many other e-business solutions that are the main foundation of corporate computing in the 21st century.

Java itself was designed to be easy to use and simple, making it straightforward to write, compile, debug and learn than any other programming languages. The Java runtime automatically assigns memory usage, and recovers memory when objects are no longer referred to or in use. This makes Java a much easier language to use than something like C or C++ which requires the programmer to manage memory allocation within the program itself.

Over the years Java has been tested, refined and extended over the years and has been proven by a dedicated community. Currently there are more than 6.5 million developers. Java has become invaluable to developers because it allows them to write software on one platform and run it virtually on any other platform due to a deliberately high degree of portability across systems and hardware.

There are many pieces of hardware, from computers and mobile phones through to parking meters which you will no doubt use on a daily basis and which are driven by Java applications. The range of uses to which Java has been put is truly staggering, and it is this breadth of implementation that has put Java developers in such high regard and in such high demand.

The average salary of a Java developer in 2009 has reached 47,500 a year, with approximately 90% of employers offering salaries of more than 30,000, and 10% of employers offering up to 80,000 a year for experienced Java developers.

The demand for Java developers was hit by the recent recession. There is a large demand for Java specialists in the financial sector, especially within banking, and it is likely to be this sector that was mostly responsible for the decline in available Java developer jobs. The demand for high calibre Java developers has since recovered very quickly and continues to grow at a rate not seen since 2006. Salaries have also fared well through the recession, and average salaries are now back to their pre-recession levels.

For computer science professionals, or programmers with experience in C or C++, pursuing a career in Java will be a rewarding move, as well as a challenging one. As people spend more time online and conduct a wider array of activities in the digital environment, the online application side of Java will continue to grow at a high rate. The variety of industries and sectors open to developers means that with a career in Java there is something for everyone.