Java Edition's

Java Edition's

Three editions of Java

Sun Microsystems released the Java 1.0 software development kit (JDK) in 1995. The first JDK was used to develop desktop applications and applets, and Java subsequently evolved to encompass enterprise-server and mobile-device programming. Storing all of the necessary libraries in a single JDK would have made the JDK too large to distribute, especially because distribution in the 1990s was limited by small-size CDs and slow network speeds. Since most developers didn't need every last API (a desktop application developer would hardly need to access enterprise Java APIs), Sun solved the distribution issue by factoring Java into three main editions. These eventually became known as Java SE, Java EE, and Java ME:

Java Platform, Standard Edition (Java SE) is the Java platform for developing client-side applications, which run on desktops, and applets, which run in web browsers.

Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) is the Java platform built on top of Java SE, which is used exclusively to develop enterprise-oriented server applications. Server-side applications include servlets, which are Java programs that are similar to applets but run on a server rather than a client. Servlets conform to the Java EE Servlet API.

Java Platform, Micro Edition (Java ME) is also built on top of Java SE. It is the Java platform for developing MIDlets, which are Java programs that run on mobile information devices, and Xlets, which are Java programs that run on embedded devices.

Java SE is the foundation platform for Java and is the focus for this series. Code examples will be based on the most recent version of Java at the time of writing, which is currently Java SE 8 update 45.