Since time magazine named java one of the 10 best products of 1995, java has become a new legend in us it marketing. What if this brilliant technology from sun microsystems had retained its original oak or greentalk name? Would it have been so successful? You never know.
Distributing a great open source programming environment will, of course, be popular. It doesn’t matter what you call it. But brand identity was important to sun’s new programming language for the next generation of application developers. And the people in charge of the job confirmed the name of the coffee as a trademark. But the reason behind the name java was chosen is at least partly a mystery.
Compiled from content originally published by javaworld in 1996, this collective interview provides a wonderful retrospective on the birth of the name ‘java’.
How Java Became Java
Lawyers said you couldn’t use the Dominica Email List name ‘oak’,” said frank yellin, then chief engineer at sun. As for the reason, he said that it was because a company called oak technologies had already registered it as a trademark.”
Ameeting was held to come up with ideas for a new name,” he said. All members of the collective, then called live oak, attended. Ten promising names were finally selected, and these were sent to the legal aid department, and three names were passed and returned. It was java, dna, and silk. No one remembered who first suggested the name ‘java’. It suggests that only one person invented the name.”
Kim Polese Product Manager For Oak At The Time Remembers Differently
I spent a lot of time and energy coming up with the CH Leads name java. I wanted something that was appropriate, that reflected the essence of the technology, that was dynamic, revolutionary, lively and fun. This programming language is very special, so I wanted to avoid a corny name. I didn’t even want a name with “Net” or “Web” in it, as they are very easily forgotten. I wanted something cool and unusual and easy to write and fun to talk about.
