Java
In the early 90’s, engineers from Sun Microsystems led by Calgary-born James Gosling, a University of Calgary alumnus, squirreled themselves away in an anonymous office and emerged 18 months later with a hardware-independent software platform called Java.
Designed to gain a foothold in the digital cable television industry, Java instead found ready application on the Internet allowing users to create interactive web pages. Over the decades, many new features have been added, including one called Jackpot, developed in 2003 by another University of Calgary alumnus, David Pereira.
Innovator: James Gosling
Company: Sun Microsystems
Relevant Location: Calgary, Alberta
Innovation System Building Blocks: University of Calgary
Sector: ICT
Significant Date: 1990
Further Information:
http://java.sun.com/
http://www.abheritage.ca/abinvents/inventions/inv_co_java_p1.htm
Current as of: Friday, October 24, 2008
Maintained by: Communications branch, AET
