Java Flavors & Processes
This lesson describes the various platform editions of Java. It also touches upon the community and processes around the Java ecosystem.
We'll cover the following...
Question # 1
What is Java SE?
The SE stands for standard edition. We know that the Java platform is a suite of programs that facilitate developing and running programs written in the Java programming language. All Java platforms consist of a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and an application programming interface (API). Don't confuse the Java programming language with the Java platform. The programming language is one part of the Java platform. Since Java is independent of the underlying OS and hardware, there exist different versions of the platform that target specific devices and use-cases.
A Java platform edition is defined by a specification that describes APIs and their interactions. For instance, the Java SE edition specifications can be seen here. Any vendor is free to implement the specification. For instance, there's one called Zulu, which is Java SE 11 compliant. Similarly, Oracle has their own implementation that can be downloaded from here.
As a developer or a user, you'll be required to download either a JRE or JDK belonging ...