What is the difference between JDK, JRE, and JVM?

Question

Accepted Answer

JDK is a development kit, JRE is a runtime environment, and JVM is a virtual machine for running Java programs.

JDK (Java Development Kit) is a software development kit used for developing Java applications. It includes JRE, compiler, debugger, and other tools.
JRE (Java Runtime Environment) is a software package that provides the libraries, Java Virtual Machine (JVM), and other components necessary for running Java applications.
JVM (Java Virtual Machine) is an abstract machine that provides a runtime environment in which Java bytecode can be executed. It converts bytecode into machine code and executes it.

Accepted Answer

JVM

JVM is an acronym for Java Virtual Machine; it is an abstract machine which provides the runtime environment in which Java bytecode can be executed. It is a specification which specifies the working of Java Virtual Machine. Its implementation has been provided by Oracle and other companies. Its implementation is known as JRE.

JVMs are available for many hardware and software platforms (so JVM is platform dependent). It is a runtime instance which is created when we run the Java class. There are three notions of the JVM: specification, implementation, and instance.

JRE

JRE stands for Java Runtime Environment. It is the implementation of JVM. The Java Runtime Environment is a set of software tools which are used for developing Java applications. It is used to provide the runtime environment. It is the implementation of JVM. It physically exists. It contains a set of libraries + other files that JVM uses at runtime.

JDK

JDK is an acronym for Java Development Kit. It is a software development environment which is used to develop Java applications and applets. It physically exists. It contains JRE + development tools. JDK is an implementation of any one of the below given Java Platforms released by Oracle Corporation:

Standard Edition Java Platform

Enterprise Edition Java Platform

Micro Edition Java Platform

What is the difference between JDK, JRE, and JVM?

Top Wipro Java Developer interview questions & answers

Popular interview questions of Java Developer

Top HR questions asked in Wipro Java Developer