Java SE 6 vs JRE 1 6 vs JDK 1 6 - What do these mean

Question

I see many different Java terms floating around   I need to install the JDK 1 6   It was my understanding that Java 6    Java 1 6   However  when I install Java SE 6  I get a JVM that reports as version 11 0   Who can solve the madness

User · Accepted Answer

When you type  java -version   you see three version numbers - the java version  on mine  that s  1 6 0 07    the Java SE Runtime Environment version   build 1 6 0 07-b06    and the HotSpot version  on mine  that s  build 10 0-b23  mixed mode     I suspect the  11 0  you are seeing is the HotSpot version   Update  HotSpot is  or used to be  now they seem to use it to mean the whole VM  the just-in-time compiler that is built in to the Java Virtual Machine   God only knows why Sun gives it a separate version number

User · Answer

With the release of Java 5  the product version was made distinct from the developer version as described here

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JDK - Java Development Kit JRE - Java Runtime Environment Java SE - Java Standard Edition   SE defines a set of capabilities and functionalities  there are more complex editions  Enterprise Edition     EE  and simpler ones  Micro Edition     ME     for mobile environments    The JDK includes the compiler and other tools needed to develop Java applications  JRE does not   So  to run a Java application someone else provides  you need JRE  to develop a Java application  you need JDK   Edited  As Chris Marasti-Georg pointed out in a comment  you can find out lots of information at Sun s Java web site  and in particular from the Java SE section   2nd option  Java SE Development Kit  JDK  6 Update 10      Edited 2011-04-06  The world turns  and Java is now managed by Oracle  which bought Sun   Later this year  the sun com domain is supposed to go dark   The new page  based on a redirect  is this Java page at the Oracle Tech Network    See also java com      Edited 2013-01-11  And the world keeps on turning  2012-12-21 notwithstanding   and lo and behold  JRE 6 is about to reach its end of support   Oracle says no more public updates to Java 6 after February 2013   Within a given version of Java  this answer remains valid   JDK is the Java Development Kit  JRE is the Java Runtime Environment  Java SE is the standard edition  and so on   But the version 6  1 6  is becoming antiquated   Edited 2015-04-29  And with another couple of revolutions around the sun  the time has come for the end of support for Java SE 7  too   In April 2015  Oracle affirmed that it was no longer providing public updates to Java SE 7   The tentative end of public updates for Java SE 8 is March 2017  but that end date is subject to change  later  not earlier

User · Answer

JDK - Java Development Kit JRE - Java Runtime Environment Java SE - Java Standard Edition   SE defines a set of capabilities and functionalities  there are more complex editions  Enterprise Edition     EE  and simpler ones  Micro Edition     ME     for mobile environments    The JDK includes the compiler and other tools needed to develop Java applications  JRE does not   So  to run a Java application someone else provides  you need JRE  to develop a Java application  you need JDK   Edited  As Chris Marasti-Georg pointed out in a comment  you can find out lots of information at Sun s Java web site  and in particular from the Java SE section   2nd option  Java SE Development Kit  JDK  6 Update 10      Edited 2011-04-06  The world turns  and Java is now managed by Oracle  which bought Sun   Later this year  the sun com domain is supposed to go dark   The new page  based on a redirect  is this Java page at the Oracle Tech Network    See also java com      Edited 2013-01-11  And the world keeps on turning  2012-12-21 notwithstanding   and lo and behold  JRE 6 is about to reach its end of support   Oracle says no more public updates to Java 6 after February 2013   Within a given version of Java  this answer remains valid   JDK is the Java Development Kit  JRE is the Java Runtime Environment  Java SE is the standard edition  and so on   But the version 6  1 6  is becoming antiquated   Edited 2015-04-29  And with another couple of revolutions around the sun  the time has come for the end of support for Java SE 7  too   In April 2015  Oracle affirmed that it was no longer providing public updates to Java SE 7   The tentative end of public updates for Java SE 8 is March 2017  but that end date is subject to change  later  not earlier

User · Answer

JDK - Java Development Kit JRE - Java Runtime Environment Java SE - Java Standard Edition   SE defines a set of capabilities and functionalities  there are more complex editions  Enterprise Edition     EE  and simpler ones  Micro Edition     ME     for mobile environments    The JDK includes the compiler and other tools needed to develop Java applications  JRE does not   So  to run a Java application someone else provides  you need JRE  to develop a Java application  you need JDK   Edited  As Chris Marasti-Georg pointed out in a comment  you can find out lots of information at Sun s Java web site  and in particular from the Java SE section   2nd option  Java SE Development Kit  JDK  6 Update 10      Edited 2011-04-06  The world turns  and Java is now managed by Oracle  which bought Sun   Later this year  the sun com domain is supposed to go dark   The new page  based on a redirect  is this Java page at the Oracle Tech Network    See also java com      Edited 2013-01-11  And the world keeps on turning  2012-12-21 notwithstanding   and lo and behold  JRE 6 is about to reach its end of support   Oracle says no more public updates to Java 6 after February 2013   Within a given version of Java  this answer remains valid   JDK is the Java Development Kit  JRE is the Java Runtime Environment  Java SE is the standard edition  and so on   But the version 6  1 6  is becoming antiquated   Edited 2015-04-29  And with another couple of revolutions around the sun  the time has come for the end of support for Java SE 7  too   In April 2015  Oracle affirmed that it was no longer providing public updates to Java SE 7   The tentative end of public updates for Java SE 8 is March 2017  but that end date is subject to change  later  not earlier

User · Answer

With the release of Java 5  the product version was made distinct from the developer version as described here

User · Answer

This might help someone   I am installing the latest Java on my system for development  and currently it s Java SE 7  Now  let s dive into this  madness   as you put it     All of these are the same  when developers are talking about Java for development     Java SE 7 Java SE v1 7 0 Java SE Development Kit 7   Starting with Java v1 5    v5   v1 5  v6   v1 6  v7   v1 7    And we can assume this will remain for future versions   Next  for developers  download JDK  not JRE   JDK will contain JRE  If you need JDK and JRE  get JDK  Both will be installed from the single JDK install  as you will see below   As someone above mentioned    JDK   Java Development Kit  developers need this  this is you if you code in Java  JRE   Java Runtime Environment  users need this  this is every computer user today  Java SE   Java Standard Edition   Here s the step by step links I followed  one step leads to the next  this is all for a single download  to download Java for development  JDK     Visit  Java SE Downloads   http   www oracle com technetwork java javase downloads index html Click  JDK Download  and visit  Java SE Development Kit 7 Downloads   http   www oracle com technetwork java javase downloads java-se-jdk-7-download-432154 html  note that following the link from step  1 will take you to a different link as JDK 1 7 updates  later versions  are now out  Accept agreement    Click  Java SE Development Kit 7  Windows x64    http   download oracle com otn-pub java jdk 7 jdk-7-windows-x64 exe  for my 64-bit Windows 7 system  You are now downloading  hopefully the latest  JDK for your system       Keep in mind the above links are for reference purposes only  to show you the step by step method of what it takes to download the JDK   And install with default settings to       C  Program Files Java jdk1 7 0      JDK     C  Program Files Java jre7      JRE   lt --- why did it ask a new install folder  it s JRE    Remember from above that JDK contains JRE  which makes sense if you know what they both are  Again  see above   After your install  double check    C  Program Files Java    to see both these folders  Now you know what they are and why they are there   I know I wrote this for newbies  but I enjoy knowing things in full detail  so I hope this helps

User · Answer

JDK - Java Development Kit JRE - Java Runtime Environment Java SE - Java Standard Edition   SE defines a set of capabilities and functionalities  there are more complex editions  Enterprise Edition     EE  and simpler ones  Micro Edition     ME     for mobile environments    The JDK includes the compiler and other tools needed to develop Java applications  JRE does not   So  to run a Java application someone else provides  you need JRE  to develop a Java application  you need JDK   Edited  As Chris Marasti-Georg pointed out in a comment  you can find out lots of information at Sun s Java web site  and in particular from the Java SE section   2nd option  Java SE Development Kit  JDK  6 Update 10      Edited 2011-04-06  The world turns  and Java is now managed by Oracle  which bought Sun   Later this year  the sun com domain is supposed to go dark   The new page  based on a redirect  is this Java page at the Oracle Tech Network    See also java com      Edited 2013-01-11  And the world keeps on turning  2012-12-21 notwithstanding   and lo and behold  JRE 6 is about to reach its end of support   Oracle says no more public updates to Java 6 after February 2013   Within a given version of Java  this answer remains valid   JDK is the Java Development Kit  JRE is the Java Runtime Environment  Java SE is the standard edition  and so on   But the version 6  1 6  is becoming antiquated   Edited 2015-04-29  And with another couple of revolutions around the sun  the time has come for the end of support for Java SE 7  too   In April 2015  Oracle affirmed that it was no longer providing public updates to Java SE 7   The tentative end of public updates for Java SE 8 is March 2017  but that end date is subject to change  later  not earlier

User · Answer

This might help someone   I am installing the latest Java on my system for development  and currently it s Java SE 7  Now  let s dive into this  madness   as you put it     All of these are the same  when developers are talking about Java for development     Java SE 7 Java SE v1 7 0 Java SE Development Kit 7   Starting with Java v1 5    v5   v1 5  v6   v1 6  v7   v1 7    And we can assume this will remain for future versions   Next  for developers  download JDK  not JRE   JDK will contain JRE  If you need JDK and JRE  get JDK  Both will be installed from the single JDK install  as you will see below   As someone above mentioned    JDK   Java Development Kit  developers need this  this is you if you code in Java  JRE   Java Runtime Environment  users need this  this is every computer user today  Java SE   Java Standard Edition   Here s the step by step links I followed  one step leads to the next  this is all for a single download  to download Java for development  JDK     Visit  Java SE Downloads   http   www oracle com technetwork java javase downloads index html Click  JDK Download  and visit  Java SE Development Kit 7 Downloads   http   www oracle com technetwork java javase downloads java-se-jdk-7-download-432154 html  note that following the link from step  1 will take you to a different link as JDK 1 7 updates  later versions  are now out  Accept agreement    Click  Java SE Development Kit 7  Windows x64    http   download oracle com otn-pub java jdk 7 jdk-7-windows-x64 exe  for my 64-bit Windows 7 system  You are now downloading  hopefully the latest  JDK for your system       Keep in mind the above links are for reference purposes only  to show you the step by step method of what it takes to download the JDK   And install with default settings to       C  Program Files Java jdk1 7 0      JDK     C  Program Files Java jre7      JRE   lt --- why did it ask a new install folder  it s JRE    Remember from above that JDK contains JRE  which makes sense if you know what they both are  Again  see above   After your install  double check    C  Program Files Java    to see both these folders  Now you know what they are and why they are there   I know I wrote this for newbies  but I enjoy knowing things in full detail  so I hope this helps

User · Answer

With the release of Java 5  the product version was made distinct from the developer version as described here

User · Answer

With the release of Java 5  the product version was made distinct from the developer version as described here

User · Answer

Java SE Runtime is for end user  so you need Java JRE version  the first version of Java was the 1  then 1 1 - 1 2 - 1 3 - 1 4 - 1 5 - 1 6 etc and usually each version is named by version so JRE 6 means Java jre 1 6  anyway there is the update version  for example 1 6 update 45  which is named java jre 6u45   From what I know  they preferred to use the number 6 instead using 1 6 to better reflect the level of maturity  stability  scalability  security and more

User · Answer

A Brief and Maybe Incorrect History of Java Versions   Java is a platform  It consists of two products - the software development kit  and the runtime environment  When Java was first released  it was apparently just called Java  If you were a developer  you also knew the version  which was a normal  1 0  and later a  1 1   The two products that were part of the platform were also given names    JDK -  Java Development Kit  JRE -  Java Runtime Environment   Apparently the changes in version 1 2 so significant that they started calling the platform as Java 2     The default  distribution  of the platform was given the moniker  standard  to contrast it with its siblings  So you had three platforms     Java 2 Standard Edition  J2SE    Java 2 Enterprise Edition  J2EE    Java 2 Mobile Edition  J2ME    The JDK was officially renamed to  Java 2 Software Development Kit    When version 1 5 came out  the suits decided that they needed to  rebrand  the product  So the Java platform got two versions - the product version  5  and the developer version  1 5   Yes  the rule is explicitly mentioned --  drop the  1     However  the  2  was retained in the name  So now the platform is officially called  Java 2 Platform Standard Edition 5 0  J2SE 5 0      The suits also realized that the development community was not picking up their renaming of the JDK  But instead of reverting their change  they just decide to drop the  2  from the name of the individual products  which now get be  J2SE Development Kit 5 0  JDK 5 0   and  J2SE Runtime Environment 5 0  JRE 5 0     When version 1 6 come out  someone realized that having two numbers in the name was weird  So they decide to completely drop the 2  and the   0  suffix   and we end up with the  Java Platform  Standard Edition 6  Java SE 6   containing the  Java SE Development Kit 6  JDK 6   and the  Java SE Runtime Environment 6  JRE 6    Version 1 7 did not do anything stupid  If I had to guess  the next big change would be dropping the  SE   so that the cycle completes and the JDK again gets to be called the  Java Development Kit     Notes   For simplicity  a bunch of trademark signs were omitted  So assume Java     JDK    and JRE     SO seems to have trouble rendering nested lists    References   http   www oracle com technetwork java javase namechange-140185 html   Epilogue  Just drop the  1   from versions printed by javac -version and java -version and you re good to go

User · Answer

A Brief and Maybe Incorrect History of Java Versions   Java is a platform  It consists of two products - the software development kit  and the runtime environment  When Java was first released  it was apparently just called Java  If you were a developer  you also knew the version  which was a normal  1 0  and later a  1 1   The two products that were part of the platform were also given names    JDK -  Java Development Kit  JRE -  Java Runtime Environment   Apparently the changes in version 1 2 so significant that they started calling the platform as Java 2     The default  distribution  of the platform was given the moniker  standard  to contrast it with its siblings  So you had three platforms     Java 2 Standard Edition  J2SE    Java 2 Enterprise Edition  J2EE    Java 2 Mobile Edition  J2ME    The JDK was officially renamed to  Java 2 Software Development Kit    When version 1 5 came out  the suits decided that they needed to  rebrand  the product  So the Java platform got two versions - the product version  5  and the developer version  1 5   Yes  the rule is explicitly mentioned --  drop the  1     However  the  2  was retained in the name  So now the platform is officially called  Java 2 Platform Standard Edition 5 0  J2SE 5 0      The suits also realized that the development community was not picking up their renaming of the JDK  But instead of reverting their change  they just decide to drop the  2  from the name of the individual products  which now get be  J2SE Development Kit 5 0  JDK 5 0   and  J2SE Runtime Environment 5 0  JRE 5 0     When version 1 6 come out  someone realized that having two numbers in the name was weird  So they decide to completely drop the 2  and the   0  suffix   and we end up with the  Java Platform  Standard Edition 6  Java SE 6   containing the  Java SE Development Kit 6  JDK 6   and the  Java SE Runtime Environment 6  JRE 6    Version 1 7 did not do anything stupid  If I had to guess  the next big change would be dropping the  SE   so that the cycle completes and the JDK again gets to be called the  Java Development Kit     Notes   For simplicity  a bunch of trademark signs were omitted  So assume Java     JDK    and JRE     SO seems to have trouble rendering nested lists    References   http   www oracle com technetwork java javase namechange-140185 html   Epilogue  Just drop the  1   from versions printed by javac -version and java -version and you re good to go

User · Answer

Java SE Runtime is for end user  so you need Java JRE version  the first version of Java was the 1  then 1 1 - 1 2 - 1 3 - 1 4 - 1 5 - 1 6 etc and usually each version is named by version so JRE 6 means Java jre 1 6  anyway there is the update version  for example 1 6 update 45  which is named java jre 6u45   From what I know  they preferred to use the number 6 instead using 1 6 to better reflect the level of maturity  stability  scalability  security and more

[java] Java SE 6 vs. JRE 1.6 vs. JDK 1.6 - What do these mean?

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