Platform independence means a particular code can be run with zero or minor modifications on various programming platforms. However, there is more to the discussion than just that. It also depends on how is “the platform” being defined. In certain cases, it could be a particular hardware configuration. In some other cases, it could denote a generic computer. In a few other cases, the term ‘platform’ could imply a run time environment and virtual machine.
There is no truly “platform-independent” language. For instance, if file path separators are hardcoded instead of using platform-independent path separators in Java, the code will not work on both Linux and Windows. As a developer, you should be on the lookout for such things, always siding with platform-independent options as much as possible and testing code properly on various platforms if portability is important.
There are always certain constraints on particular platforms that cannot be ignored. Examples include things such as maximum filename length or the available system RAM. Regardless of how much you insist on being platform-independent, your code could fall flat on its face if you try running it on an extremely constrained platform.
Some languages are not dependent on programming platforms only at the level of source code. C++ and C are good examples. These languages, however, lose independence once code compilation is done because native codes are specific to certain platforms. Java keeps its independence even after code compiling since it conforms to bytecodes that aren’t dependent on any platform.
There are occasional language implementation bugs that happen only on specific platforms. Therefore, even if a code is 100 percent portable theoretically, it still should be tested on various platforms to ensure there aren’t any run-ins into unusual bugs.
Java and Its Platform Independence
As far as Java is concerned, it’s platform-independent in a way that that a particular Java app or algorithm would run identically on Linux and Windows. Java libraries are generally platform-independent, provided the code is pure Java. Most Java libraries try sticking with pure Java to ensure platform independence. However, in certain scenarios, that may not be possible.
The Java runtime environment or platform is denoted as “independent” because it’s available on different platforms – right from mobile phones to mainframes. However, specific JVM versions are required for every underlying platform to account various machine capabilities and native instruction codes. Overall, however, Java gets the closest to complete platform independence than any other programming language.
