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Background - Java editions
Sun has three main "editions" of Java:
- Standard
Edition, aka J2SE. This has all the basic stuff.
- Enterprise
Edition, aka J2EE, aka Java EE, aka Java Enterprise. This has
Servlets, JSP, EJB and JMS, among other things aimed at large-scale
distributed applications.
- Micro
Edition, aka J2ME, is optimized for writing small-memory-footprint
programs to run on small devices (cell phones and PDAs, for example).
Wikipedia, of course, has pages of links about all of
them:
The names "Java" and "Java 2" can
refer to the standard edition, or be an umbrella term for all three. People
aren't very consistent about that.
JDK vs JRE
A Java Development Kit (JDK) contains compilers,
archivers and other tools for developing software. A Java Runtime Environment
(JRE) contains a Java Virtual Machine (JVM), libraries and other software
needed to run Java programs. A JDK always includes a JRE, but not the other
way around. Many commercial applications and tools include a JRE in their
distributions, so that the product can be developed with confidence that a
compatible JRE version will be available.
Java version
We will use Java 1.6 this term. If you don't have access
to it already, visit Sun's
Java download site, and get the latest and greatest update of JDK 6 for Windows,
Linux or Solaris.
Freely-downloadable IDEs
GlassFish
GlassFish is
Sun's reference implementation of Java EE 5. We will use it as our application
server in 655.
Books and web sites
Hundreds of books and web sites provide information about
Java and how to use it. A few links to such information appear below.
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