Java^TM Software Development Kits and Runtimes

This SDK brings new functionality in many areas including Java 2D^TM API, Java Accessibility API, Drag and Drop, Application Services, Extensions Framework, Collections, Input Methods, Version Identification, Weak References, Java interface definition language (IDL), Java Virtual Machine* Debugger Interface (JVMDI), the Java Servlet standard extension, and Javadoc Doclets.

Major enhancements have also been added to JavaBeans^TM component architecture, Java Security API, Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI) technology, Object Serialization, Java Sound API, Java Archive (JAR), and Java Native Interface (JNI) API.
Performance enhancements include Solaris^TM operating environment native thread support, memory compression for loaded classes, faster memory allocation and garbage collection, monitor speedups, and native library JNI port.

This SDK includes the Japanese locale.

This source code is available to the developer community as part of Sun's Community Source Licensing Program. It is intended to further propel innovation of the Java platform and provide developers with easier access to the Java platform sources while still maintaining compatibility.

This is a release of a minimum runtime for running applications, applets and beans on the Java^TM 2 Platform, Standard Edition. It contains no compiler, no debugger, and no tools. Unlike the SDK, it is freely distributable, according to the terms of its license.

Java^TM Plug-in software provides enterprise customers with the ability to specify the use of Sun's implementation of the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) in Internet Explorer 3.02 or later, and Netscape Navigator 3.0 or later instead of the browsers default Java Virtual Machine (JVM).

The JDK 1.1 platform contains the software and tools that developers need to compile, debug, and run applets and applications written using the Java programming language. It is a superset of the JDK 1.0.2 with improvements in functionality, performance, and quality.
Includes: Internationalizaton, Security, JavaBeans^TM architecture, JAR, RMI, Object Serializaton, JDBC^TM API, Inner Classes, JNI, and enhancements to AWT, IO, Net and Math.
Options: Win32 Performance Pack, Solaris Native Threads Pack

The Java Runtime Environment, Version 1.1, is a release of a minimum runtime for applications written in the Java programming language. It consists of the Java virtual machine, Java^TM Foundation Classes software, and supporting files. It contains no compiler, no debugger, and no tools. Unlike the JDK software, it is freely distributable, according to the terms of its license.

The product enables programmers to write applets that conform to the Java^TM 1.0 API and will run in all Java technology-enabled browsers.

Includes: Lang, IO, Util, Net, Applet, and AWT packages.

Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)

Core to the Java platform, the Java Foundation Classes extend the original Abstract Windowing Toolkit (AWT) by adding a comprehensive set of graphical user interface class libraries that is completely portable and compatible with all AWT-based applications.

These components are written in the Java programming language, without window-system-specific code. This facilitates a customizable look and feel without relying on the native windowing system, and simplifies the deployment of applications.

This feature gives users the ability to switch the look and feel of an application without restarting it and without the developer having to subclass the entire component set.

This package provides the tools that enable assistive technologies to interact with the accessibility support built into the Java Foundation Classes and track top level window creation and other events. Tools for evaluating the accessibility of information contained in components to assistive technologies are also contained in the package.

This feature will significantly improve application interoperability by enabling Drag and Drop between those applications that are written in the Java^TM programming language and those that are not.

The Java^TM Security APIs are a framework for developers to easily and securely include security functionality in their applets and applications. This functionality includes cryptography with digital signatures, encryption, and authentication.

Provides interoperability with CORBA, the industry standard for heterogeneous computing. Java IDL includes an IDL-to-Java compiler and a lightweight ORB that supports IIOP.

Included in JDK 1.1. Provides programmers with a uniform interface to a wide range of relational databases, and provides a common base on which higher-level tools and interfaces can be built.

Included in JDK 1.1. Defines a set of standard component software APIs that enable developers to write re-usable components once and then run them anywhere--on every OS and within application environments.

Included in JDK 1.1. Designed for creating Java objects whose methods can be invoked from another virtual machine.
Object Serialization allows programs to serialize objects into a stream of bytes that can be later used to build equivalent objects.

The Java 2D^TM API is a set of classes for advanced 2D graphics and imaging, encompassing line art, text, and images in a single comprehensive model.
The API provides extensive support for image compositing and alpha channel images, a set of classes to provide accurate color spacedefinition and conversion, and a rich set of display-oriented imaging operators.

The collections framework is a unified architecture for representing and manipulating collections, allowing them to be manipulated independently of the detailsof their representation. It reduces programming effort while increasing performance.
It allows for interoperability among unrelated APIs, reduces effort in designing and learning new APIs, and fosters software reuse. The framework is based on six collection interfaces. It includes implementations of these interfaces, and algorithms to manipulate them.

Related Products

The JavaBeans^TM Development Kit (BDK) is intended to support the early development of beans and to act as a standard reference base for both component developers and tool vendors.
The BDK provides a reference Bean container, the "BeanBox" and a variety of reusable example source code (in the demo and beanboxsubdirectories) for use by both tool and beans developers.

The next release of the JDK software will provide the foundation for the Java HotSpot performance engine.

The Java HotSpot performance engine is the culmination of many years of basic research, much of it conducted at Sun Microsystems' labs. It incorporates a state-of-the-art memory model, garbage collector, and adaptive optimizer, and is written in a extremely high-level, object-oriented style.

For listings of hundreds of other commercial products built on the Java^TM platform, visit the
Java Solutions Guide.