Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Sun for short) was an American technology company that sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services and created the Java programming language, the Solaris operating system, ZFS, the Network File System (NFS), VirtualBox, and SPARC microprocessors. Sun contributed significantly to the evolution of several key computing technologies, among them Unix, RISC processors, thin client computing, and virtualized computing. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982. At its height, the Sun headquarters were in Santa Clara, California (part of Silicon Valley), on the former west campus of the Agnews Developmental Center.
On April 20, 2009, it was announced that Oracle Corporation would acquire Sun for US$7.4 billion. The deal was completed on January 27, 2010.
Sun Microsystems developed Java Card Platform specifications which has become the most widely used smart card operating systems used for credit cards, SIM cards and identification
Java Card technology is the leading open, interoperable platform for smart cards and secure tokens. The Java Card Specifications provide the basis for cross-platform and cross-vendor applet interoperability.
