Java 8 Pocket Guide

Chapter 9. Java Platform, Standard Edition

The Java Platform, Standard Edition (SE), includes the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) and its encompassing Java Development Kit (JDK; see Chapter 10), the Java Programming Language, Java Virtual Machines (JVMs), tools/utilities, and the Java SE API libraries. Separate platforms are available: Windows (32- and 64-bit), Mac OS X (64-bit), Linux (32- and 64-bit), Linux ARMv6/7 VFP—HardFP ABI (32-bit), Solaris SPARC (64-bit), and Solaris (64-bit).

Common Java SE API Libraries

Java SE API standard libraries are provided within packages. Each package is made up of classes and/or interfaces. An abbreviated list of commonly used packages is represented here.

Java SE provides the JavaFX runtime libraries from Java SE 7 update 6 and JavaFX 2.2 onwards. JavaFX is replacing the Swing API as the new client UI library for Java SE.

Language and Utility Libraries

java.lang

Language support; system/math methods, fundamental types, strings, threads, and exceptions

java.lang.annotation

Annotation framework; metadata library support

java.lang.instrument

Program instrumentation; agent services to instrument JVM programs

java.lang.invoke

Dynamic Language Support; supported by core classes and VM

java.lang.management

Java Management Extensions API; JVM monitoring and management

java.lang.ref

Reference-object classes; interaction support with the GC

java.lang.reflect

Reflective information about classes and objects

java.util

Utilities; collections, ...