According to Sun, the name "Java" was chosen because it is US slang for
coffee, and thus implies some sort of excitement or "buzz" associated with the caffeine content of coffee.
If you look at the way lots of underground unix projects are named, on the other hand, a
pattern emerges. The widely used "Yacc" (Yet Another Compiler Compiler) and many others are part of a tradition of slightly self-deprecating abbreviations. Viewed in this light, the description "Just Another Virtual Architecture" fits Java very well. However this would not be a good thing for Sun marketing to admit, as it would remind people that the Java Virtual Machine is not a wholly new concept.
