Java Platform:-

The Java platform is the name for a bundle of related programs, or platform, from Sun Microsystems which allow for developing and running programs written in the Java programming language. The platform is not specific to any one processor or operating system, but rather, an execution engine (called a virtual machine) and a compiler with a set of standard libraries are implemented for various hardware and operating systems so that Java programs can run identically on all of them.

Different "editions" of the platform are available, including:

• Java Standard Edition or Java SE (formerly J2SE) for desktop machines
• the Java Enterprise Edition or Java EE (formerly J2EE) for web servers
• the Java Micro Edition or Java ME (formerly J2ME) for hand-held devices such as smart phones.

As of December 2006, the current version of the Java Platform is specified as either 1.6.0 or 6 (both refer to the same version). Version 6 is the product version, while 1.6.0 is the developer version.