Why Java Card?

The purpose of Java Card is two-fold:

• Simplify smart card application development: until recently, pretty much everything was coded in C and assembly, using proprietary card operating systems. Using a simple high-level language like Java on top of a standard API is a major improvement (at least we think it is!).
• Try to bring WORA (Write Once, Run Anywhere) to smart cards: since Java Card applications are hardware-independent, they may be loaded in binary form on any smart card that contains a Java Card platform.