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JDK, JRE and JVM

The Java Development Kit, Runtime Environment and Virtual Machine — what each one does.

Beginner
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  • JVM — runs bytecode; includes the garbage collector and a JIT compiler that turns hot code into native machine code.
  • JRE — the JVM plus the standard libraries needed to run Java programs.
  • JDK — the JRE plus development tools: javac (compiler), jar, javadoc, debugger.
javac Hello.java     # → Hello.class (bytecode)
java Hello           # the JVM runs it

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