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| The Java Platform |
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A platform is the hardware or software environment in which a program runs. The Java
platform differs from most other platforms in that it's a software-only platform that runs on
top of other, hardware-based platforms. Most other platforms are described as a combination
of hardware and operating system. |
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The Java platform has two components:
| . The Java Virtual Machine (Java VM) |
| . The Java Application Programming Interface (Java API) |
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| The Java VM is the base for the Java platform and is ported onto various hardware-based platforms.
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| The Java API is a large collection of ready-made software components that provide many useful capabilities, such as
graphical user interface (GUI) widgets. The Java API (application
programming interface)
is grouped into libraries (packages) of related
components. |
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