Sun Microsystems created the Java programming language before becoming a major networking and software business.
Java was developed at Sun in the early 1990s by a team led by James Gosling. It was designed around the idea of “write once, run anywhere,” using a virtual machine so compiled programs could run on different hardware and operating systems.
Sun became influential in workstations, servers, networking, and open-source technologies. Its slogan, “The Network Is the Computer,” reflected the company’s emphasis on connected systems. Java later became widely used in enterprise software, web back ends, and Android development.
Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems in 2010 for about $7.4 billion. That acquisition transferred Java, Solaris, SPARC, and other technologies to Oracle. Sun is therefore a historical company rather than a current standalone market-cap leader, but its legacy remains tied to one of the most important programming languages in computing.