Featured White Papers

• Utilizing Fast Testing to Transform Java Development
• Do You Really Get Classloaders?
• Pragmatic Continuous Delivery with Jenkins, Nexus, and LiveRebel
• Your Next Java Web App: Less XML, No Long Restarts, Fewer Hassles
• Coding with JRebel, Java Forever Changed
• 2012 Developer Productivity Report: Java Tools, Tech, Devs, and Data

Sponsored Links

• Want to build HTML5 web applications? Check out Kendo UI JSP Server Wrappers!

  Learn More!

• Build modern HTML5 web apps using Java. Try Kendo UI Complete for JSP!

  Learn More!

• Graph databases are 1000x faster than relational.

  Learn More!

• Career opportunities at Harman- Careers That'll Rock Your Socks Off.

  Learn More!

• Developer-friendly Java PDF libraries by Qoppa Software

  Live Demos

• Stop blaming your app! Diagnose Java performance issues.

  Free tool >

• UrbanCode: Go From Continuous Integration to
  Continuous Delivery

  Learn More!

Sponsored Links

Optimize with a SATA RAID Storage Solution
Range of capacities as low as $1250 per TB. Ideal if you currently rely on servers/disks/JBODs

Just what is the Java API anyway?

How the Java API specification fits into the Java universe

By Tony Sintes, JavaWorld.com, 07/13/01

The Java API -- what is it and how does it fit into the Java language?

From a 30,000-foot view, Java comprises three components:

• The Java language
• The Java Virtual Machine (JVM)
• The Java API (Application Programming Interface)

The Java language defines the syntax and semantics of the Java programming language. It defines basic vocabulary such as primitive types, if/else blocks, the syntax of class declaration, exception syntax, variable scoping rules, and everything else necessary for the language to function. For a complete description of the Java language see: "The Java Language Specification."

The JVM executes Java bytecode. Normally, you produce Java bytecode by compiling code that conforms to the Java language. (However, you can compile code written in other languages into Java bytecode.) For a description of the JVM see: "The Java Virtual Machine Specification."

The Java API is the set of classes included with the Java Development Environment. These classes are written using the Java language and run on the JVM. The Java API includes everything from collection classes to GUI classes. You can view a complete listing of the Java API at: "Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition, v 1.3.1 API Specification."

Tutorials are also available at: "Java Tutorial."

Read more about Core Java in JavaWorld's Core Java section.