Java Runtime Environment & Updates
Hi All!
I am new to Java and have a question!
In my control panel, I have Java 2 Runtime Environment, SE V.1.4.2_03 and it is 136.00 MB. That appears to be the first program download?
Then I have J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 3, Version 1.5.0.30 which is 117.00 MB.
Then there is J2SE Runtime Envirtonment Update 6, V. 1.5.0.60 which is 119.00 MB.
Then I also have Updates 9, 10 and 11 Version 1.5.0.110, which are 119 MB, 120MB and 120 MB respectively.
Do I need ALL OF THESE programs in my computer, or can I delete the first ones, and just keep the most recent?
(I always thought updates had much smaller MBs. The large number of MBs leads me to think that a whole new program has downloaded and possibly the original programs are outdated or overwritten?)
In fact, I don't even remember downloading these updates. Does anyone know under what other names I might be downloading these program updates?
(We do play quite a few games in this house!)
THANKS!!!
MariG
[1047 byte] By [
MariGa] at [2007-11-27 0:59:21]
Yes, it does help! Thanks. I deleted all the older versions, and downloaded the newest.
I am not a computer pro, so I still don't know what I am using Java for. Would it be too much to ask you for a simple explanation (if there is one) of what exactly Java is doing for me? I never consciously go into it, but is there possibly some application that is using it?
Thanks!!!
MariGa at 2007-7-11 23:33:39 >
I'm still pretty new to this as well but as I understand it Java is a potable programming language meaning that it can be run on multiple operating systems including Linux, Mac, Windows, BSD etc.
some programmers choose to use java as the main programming language for the program to make it compatible with more systems.
In order for this to work though the java runtme environemtn must be installed on all systems that need to run the program.
Applications that use java elements or are written partly in java also require the JRE
Interesting question. I have over six years of java now, but originally started with Visual Basic and the Microsoft products in a client-server environment, so I will have a different opinion perhaps than java only devs.
All languages have a focus that they do things best with. Notice that C programs run almost all the computers in cars, COBOL is still very good as a reporting program in business and it's still around, FORTRAN is very good with scientific/math applications as it was designed with that in mind. 32 bit assembler can write some very fast, small useful programs at a low level, like for checking your hard drive for errors. That being said java is the best language for enterprise wide web development, IMHO. I like writing VB code. It's quick and easy to get something up and running. .Net I'm told can handle web services very easily as well, the same thing takes a lot more code in java. My point is use the programming language that solves the task or problem the best for what you are doing. Programming for me is a business first of all, so I always use what works best for what tasks I need to do. I love coding in java because it's portable, scalable, Object oriented and it has lots of open source tools/frameworks to handle just about everything you will need for enterprise web development. .Net can't handle the large enterprise stuff like java can. There are other differences, but for me, from a practical standpoint this is the most important and secondly that it's a specification. That is it's a defined language that the jvm enforces. All languages generally have datatypes, if-else, switch/case, variables, loop constructs, etc... but java has the best, most flexible OOP approach to solving business problems and tasks, again, IMHO.
Does that help?
One last thing and a question for you. Here is the link to download the Java Language Specification at no charge, all 3 versions: http://java.sun.com/docs/books/jls/
I would think reviewing that would help answer more of your questions.
I don't mind replying to all this, but why are you listing Duke Dollars for all this and why aren't you assigning any Dukes for these answers? Weren't they compete enough?
> ... but you can't run multiple jvm's at the same time.
Incorrect.
The process space for OSes are independent.
You might have created an environment which only allows you to run one VM version at at time (but still multiple instances) but that is a problem with the way you are using your environment. Using it in a different way allows different versions.
