Overview of Java Platform

Java is a set of several computer software products and specifications from Oracle / Sun Microsystems that together provide a system for developing application software and deploying it in a cross-platform computing environment. Java is used in a wide variety of computing platforms from embedded devices and mobile phones on the low end, to enterprise servers and supercomputers on the high end. Writing in the Java programming language is the primary way to produce code that will be deployed as Java bytecode.

The platform is not specific to any one processor or operating system, but rather an execution engine (called a virtual machine) and a compiler with a set of libraries that are implemented for various hardware and operating systems so that Java programs can run identically on all of them. A Java virtual machine is a virtual machine that can execute Java bytecode. It is the code execution component of the Java platform. The Java Development Kit (JDK) is an implementation of either one of the Java SE, Java EE or Java ME platforms released by Oracle Corporation in the form of a binary product aimed at Java developers on Solaris, Linux, Mac OS X or Windows. A Java Runtime Environment (JRE) is the set of Java libraries that can be installed on various platforms and used to run Java programs that have been previously written using the Java programming language.

JD Edwards EnterpriseOne products contain a variety of components written in Java, and therefore require a JRE or JDK in order to run.