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Java Installation

In order to create Java applications or applets, JavaSoft (part of Sun Microsystems) offers free development environment called as Java Developer's kit or JDK.or Java 2 Platform Standard Edition. JDK is currently available for most operating systems. You can obtain the JDK version for Solaris, Windows 95/NT and Macintosh directly from Sun’s web site. The address of this web site is:


You can select Java 2 Platform Standard Edition V1.3.1. This will take you to Java 2 Platform Standard Edition v1.3.1 page. Go to the bottom left of the page and download the appropriate version for your OS. If you would like to download an earlier version, the hyperlinks are available from the bottom left of the page. We will be writing console applications and for this class. We will be using command prompt for writing code versus using an IDE. You can download the documentation separately. 

Installation instructions for Linux users are available at:


Installation instructions for Windows users are available at:


Installation instructions for Solaris users are available at:


For Mac users the following web site is a good starting point: 



Click the above URL to download the documentation for Macintosh (JDK version 1.1.7 for Mac). 

The following tools are included in JDK:

 Filename Tool Name Description
 appletviewerJava appletviewerUsed to view applets without using browser
 javaJava interpreterRuns java bytecode
 javacJava compilerCompiles java program to bytecode
 javadocJava documentation generatorCreates documentation in HTML from Java source code
 javahJava header and stub file generatorCreates C-language header and stub files from a Java class, which allows Java and C code to interact
 javapJava class disassemblerDisassembles Java files and prints out representation of Java
 JDBJava language debuggerHelps to find and fix problems in your Java code