A software development environment for writing applets and applications in the Java programming language.

A set of APIs that assists with the interfacing to multiple naming and directory services.

The first program that allows you to easily create Java(TM) technology-based applications and applets without having to know the Java programming language.

The easy-to-use, extensible, easy-to-administer, secure, platform-independent solution to speed and simplify the deployment and management of your Internet and Intranet Web sites. It provides immediate productivity for robust, full-featured, Java technology-based server applications.

A complete set of tools integrated into a single environment for managing programming with Java technology. The Java Workshop software uses a highly modular structure that enables you to easily plug new tools into the overall structure.

Sun's trademark for a set of technologies for creating and safely running software programs in both stand-alone and networked environments.

A test suite, a set of tools, and other requirements used to certify a Java platform implementation conformant both to the applicable Java platform specifications and to Java Software reference implementations.

A structured architecture for the development of electronic commerce applications in the Java(TM) programming language.

This API makes it easy to create large-scale commercial and database applications that can share multimedia data with other applications within an organization or across the Internet. Four APIs have been designed within the Java(TM) Enterprise API family.

An extension that adds graphical user interface class libraries to the Abstract Windowing Toolkit (AWT).

APIs written in the Java programming language that provide standards-based interoperability and connectivity with CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture).

A set of APIs that support the integration of audio and video clips, 2D fonts, graphics, and images as well as 3D models and telephony.

The core framework supports clocks for synchronizing between different media (e.g., audio and video output). The standard extension framework allows users to do full audio and video streaming.

Consists of a language for writing programs ("the Java(TM) programming language"); a set of APIs, class libraries, and other programs used in developing, compiling, and error-checking programs; and a virtual machine which loads and executes the class files.

A distributed object model for Java(TM) program to Java program, in which the methods of remote objects written in the Java programming language can be invoked from other Java virtual machines*, possibly on different hosts.

A subset of the Java Development Kit (JDK(TM)) for end-users and developers who want to redistribute the runtime environment alone. The Java runtime environment consists of the Java virtual machine*, the Java core classes, and supporting files.

A set of technologies that enable the creation and safe running of software programs in both stand-alone and networked environments.

Sun's specification for or implementation of a software "execution engine" that safely and compatibly executes the byte codes in Java class files on a microprocessor (whether in a computer or in another electronic device).

A user interface, built on the Java(TM) Electronic Commerce Framework, which allows for online purchases, value transfers, and administrative functions.

A portable, platform-independent reusable component model.

A tool for checking compliance of applications and applets to a specification.

Sun's processor, which executes bytecode for the Java(TM) virtual machine* natively. With a JavaChip processor, bytecode bypasses the virtual machine or just-in-time compiler stage to go directly to the processor.

An Java(TM) technology-based operating system that is optimized to run on a variety of computing and consumer platforms. The JavaOS(TM) operating environment provides a runtime specifically tuned to run applications written in the Java programming language directly on hardware platforms without requiring a host operating system.

An object-oriented design and diagramming tool written in the Java(TM) programming language.

A tool for tracking and managing source file changes, written in the Java(TM) programming language.

A Web scripting language that is used in both browsers and Web servers. Like all scripting languages, it is used primarily to tie other components together or to accept user input.

A former business unit of Sun Microsystems, Inc., currently known as Sun Microsystems, Inc., Java Software division.

A technology that provides distributed persistence and data exchange mechanisms for code in the Java(TM) programming language.

Java(TM) Database Connectivity. An industry standard for database-independent connectivity between the Java platform and a wide range of databases. The JDBC interface provides a call-level API for SQL-based database access.

Java(TM) Development Kit software. A software development environment for writing applets and application in the Java programming language.

Java(TM) Foundation Class. An extension that adds graphical user interface class libraries to the Abstract Windowing Toolkit (AWT).

Sun's Jini technology includes a set of APIs that may be incorporated an optional package for any Java 2 platform edition. This set of APIs enables transparent networking of devices and services and eliminates the need for system or network administration intervention by a user.

Java(TM) Management API. A collection of Java programming language classes and interfaces that allow developers to build system, network, and service management applications.

Joint Photographic Experts Group. An image file compression standard established by this group. It achieves tremendous compression at the cost of introducing distortions into the image which are almost always imperceptible.

Java(TM) runtime environment. A subset of the Java Developer Kit for end-users and developers who want to redistribute the runtime environment. The Java runtime environment consists of the Java virtual machine*, the Java core classes, and supporting files.

A compiler that converts all of the bytecode into native machine code just as a Java(TM) program is run. This results in run-time speed improvements over code that is interpreted by a Java virtual machine*.

Java(TM) Virtual Machine*. The part of the Java Runtime Environment responsible for interpreting bytecodes.

The Java(TM) programming language sets aside words as keywords - these words are reserved by the language itself and therefore are not available as names for variables or methods.

Pertaining to how the characters in source code are translated into tokens that the compiler can understand.

A module that builds an executable, complete program from component machine code modules. The Java(TM) linker creates a runnable program from compiled classes. See also compiler, interpreter, runtime system.

The basic representation of any integer, floating point, or character value. For example, 3.0 is a double-precision floating point literal, and "a" is a character literal.

A data item known within a block, but inaccessible to code outside the block. For example, any variable defined within a method is a local variable and can't be used outside the method.

A Java(TM) programming language keyword used to define a variable of type long.

A field or method of a class. Unless specified otherwise, a member is not static.

A function defined in a class. See also instance method, class method. Unless specified otherwise, a method is not static.

A program that provides a simple GUI that enables easy access to the data stored on the Internet. These data may be simple files or hypertext documents. Mosaic was written by a team at NCSA.

Describes a program that is designed to have parts of its code execute concurrently. See also thread.

A Java(TM) programming language keyword that is used in method declarations to specify that the method is not implemented in the same Java source file, but rather in another language.

A Java(TM) programming language keyword used to create an instance of a class.

A Java(TM) programming language keyword used to specify an undefined value for reference variables.

The principal building blocks of object-oriented programs. Each object is a programming unit consisting of data (instance variables) and functionality (instance methods). See also class.

A software design method that models the characteristics of abstract or real objects using classes and objects.

The numbering system using 8 as its base, using the numerals 0-7 as its digits. In programs written in the Java(TM) programming language, octal numbers must be preceded with 0. See also hexadecimal.

The set or sets of APIs in a Java platform edition which are available with and may be supported in a compatible implementation.

Using one identifier to refer to multiple items in the same scope. In the Java(TM) programming language, you can overload methods but not variables or operators.

Providing a different implementation of a method in a subclass of the class that originally defined the method.

A group of types. Packages are declared with the package keyword.

In networking, any functional unit in the same layer as another entity.

A Java runtime environment for network-connectable applications on personal consumer devices for home, office, and mobile use.

The smallest addressable picture element on a display screen or printed page.

Portable Operating System for UNIX(TM). A standard that defines the language interface between the UNIX operating system and application programs through a minimal set of supported functions.

A Java(TM) programming language keyword used in a method or variable declaration. It signifies that the method or variable can only be accessed by other elements of its class.

A virtual address space containing one or more threads.

A Profile is a collection of Java APIs that complements one or more Java 2 Platform Editions by adding domain-specific capabilities. Profiles may also include other defined Profiles. A profile implementation requires a Java 2 Platform Edition to create a complete development and deployment environment in a targeted vertical market. Each profile is subject to an associated set of compatibility requirements.

Characteristics of an object that users can set, such as the color of a window.

A Java(TM) programming language keyword used in a method or variable declaration. It signifies that the method or variable can only be accessed by elements residing in its class, subclasses, or classes in the same package.

A Java(TM) programming language keyword used in a method or variable declaration. It signifies that the method or variable can be accessed by elements residing in other classes.

A line of pixels.

A data element whose value is an address.

A Java(TM) programming language keyword used to finish the execution of a method. It can be followed by a value required by the method definition.

In a hierarchy of items, the one item from which all other items are descended. The root item has nothing above it in the hierarchy. See also hierarchy, class, package.

The software environment in which programs compiled for the Java(TM) virtual machine* can run. The runtime system includes all the code necessary to load programs written in the Java programming language, dynamically link native methods, manage memory, handle exceptions, and an implementation of the Java virtual machine, which may be a Java interpreter.

Comprises a number of cooperating system components, ranging from security managers that execute as part of the application, to security measures designed into the Java(TM) virtual machine* and the language itself. The sandbox ensures that an untrusted, and possibly malicious, application cannot gain access to system resources.

A characteristic of an identifier that determines where the identifier can be used. Most identifiers in the Java(TM) programming environment have either class or local scope. Instance and class variables and methods have class scope; they can be used outside the class and its subclasses only by prefixing them with an instance of the class or (for class variables and methods) with the class name. All other variables are declared within methods and have local scope; they can be used only within the enclosing block.

A protocol that allows communication between a Web browser and a server to be encrypted for privacy.

A server-side program that gives Java(TM) technology-enabled servers additional functionality.

Standardized Generalized Markup Language. An ISO/ANSI/ECMA standard that specifies a way to annotate text documents with information about types of sections of a document.

A Java(TM) programming language keyword used to define a variable of type short.

In the Java(TM) language specification, describes a floating point number with 32 bits of data.

A Java(TM) programming language keyword used to define a variable as a class variable. Classes maintain one copy of class variables regardless of how many instances exist of that class. "static" can also be used to define a method as a class method. Class methods are invoked by the class instead of a specific instance, and can only operate on class variables.

Another name for class variable.

Another name for class method.

An array that is inside another array.

A class that is derived from a particular class, perhaps with one or more classes in between. See also superclass, supertype.

If type X extends or implements type Y, then X is a subtype of Y. See also supertype.

A Java(TM) programming language keyword used to access members of a class inherited by the class in which it appears.

A class from which a particular class is derived, perhaps with one or more classes in between. See also subclass, subtype.

The supertypes of a type are all the interfaces and classes that are extended or implemented by that type. See also subtype, superclass.

The code name for a collection of graphical user interface (GUI) components that runs uniformly on any native platform which supports the Java(TM) virtual machine*. Because they are written entirely in the Java programming language, these components may provide functionality above and beyond that provided by native-platform equivalents. (Contrast with AWT.)

A Java(TM) programming language keyword used to evaluate a variable that can later be matched with a value specified by the "case" keyword in order to execute a group of statements.

A keyword in the Java programming language that, when applied to a method or code block, guarantees that at most one thread at a time executes that code.

Transmission Control Protocol based on IP. This is an Internet protocol that provides for the reliable delivery of streams of data from one host to another. See also IP.

A test suite, a set of tools, and other requirements used to certify an implementation of a particular Sun technology conformant both to the applicable specifications and to Sun or Sun-designated reference implementations.

A system that runs a very light operating system with no local system administration and executes applications delivered over the network.

A Java(TM) programming language keyword that can be used to represent an instance of the class in which it appears. "this" can be used to access class variables and methods.

The basic unit of program execution. A process can have several threads running concurrently, each performing a different job, such as waiting for events or performing a time-consuming job that the program doesn't need to complete before going on. When a thread has finished its job, the thread is suspended or destroyed. See also process.

A Java(TM) programming language keyword that allows the user to throw an exception or any class that implements the "throwable" interface.

A keyword in the Java programming language that indicates that a field is not part of the serialized form of an object. When an object is serialized, the values of its transient fields are not included in the serial representation, while the values of its non-transient fields are included.

A Java(TM) programming language keyword that defines a block of statements that may throw a Java language exception. If an exception is thrown, an optional "catch" block can handle specific exceptions thrown within the "try" block. Also, an optional "finally" block will be executed regardless of whether an exception is thrown or not.

A class or interface.

A 16-bit character set defined by ISO 10646. See also ASCII. All source code in the Java(TM) programming environment is written in Unicode.

Uniform Resource Locator. A standard for writing a text reference to an arbitrary piece of data in the WWW. A URL looks like "protocol://host/localinfo" where protocol specifies a protocol to use to fetch the object (like HTTP or FTP), host specifies the Internet name of the host on which to find it, and localinfo is a string (often a file name) passed to the protocol handler on the remote host.

An item of data named by an identifier. Each variable has a type, such as int or Object, and a scope. See also class variable, instance variable, local variable.

An abstract specification for a computing device that can be implemented in different ways, in software or hardware. You compile to the instruction set of a virtual machine much like you'd compile to the instruction set of a microprocessor. The Java(TM) virtual machine* consists of a bytecode instruction set, a set of registers, a stack, a garbage-collected heap, and an area for storing methods.

A Java(TM) programming language keyword used in method declarations to specify that the method does not return any value. "void" can also be used as a nonfunctional statement.

A Java(TM) programming language keyword used in variable declarations that specifies that the variable is modified asynchronously by concurrently running threads.

A UNIX® command which will wait for all background processes to complete, and report their termination status.

A Java(TM) programming language keyword used to declare a loop that iterates a block of statements. The loop`s exit condition is specified as part of the while statement.

An object that encapsulates and delegates to another object to alter its interface or behavior in some way.

World Wide Web. The web of systems and the data in them that is the Internet. See also Internet.