History of Java

Last updated: 28 Sep 2026

Java was started in 1991 by James Gosling and his team at Sun Microsystems. It was first called Oak, then Green, and was renamed Java in 1995.

Java 1.0 was released in 1996. Oracle bought Sun Microsystems in 2010. Since 2017 a new Java version is released every six months, and some versions (such as 17 and 21) are marked Long-Term Support.