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Java Platform Editions

In this tutorial, we will learn different Java Platform Editions. Each edition can be used to develop different types of Java applications. The three main Java Platform editions are as follows:

Java Standard Edition( Java SE )
Java Enterprise Edition( Java EE )
Java Micro Edition( Java ME )

Java Standard Edition

The Java Platform, Standard Edition( or simply Java SE) allows Java developers to develop standalone console-based, applets, and desktop applications. Java SE Platform includes the core APIs and tools to develop Java applications. Java SE platform is available to download as JDK.( Java SE Development Kit)

Java SE platform includes the Java language specification like java.lang package, I/O packages, network and utility packages, SQL, Swing, AWT, Java 2D/3D graphics, JavaBeans, i18n packages, etc.

Java Platform Editions

Java Enterprise Edition

Java Platform, Enterprise Edition( or simply Java EE or J2EE) is an enterprise platform that allows software teams to develop, deploy, and run Java server-side web applications, web services, and multi-tier enterprise applications. An enterprise application should be highly secure, reliable, available, and scalable to the demand. Java EE platform is built on top of Java SE. The major technologies of Java EE include Java Servlets, JSP( Java Server Pages), EJB ( Enterprise Java Beans), JSF, JMS( Java Messaging Service), Support for SOAP/REST services, etc.

We can use the Application servers that implement the Java EE
specifications to develop, build, and deploy enterprise applications. Some examples of the application servers are:

IBM’s Websphere
JBoss ( a.k.a WildFly)
Glassfish
BEA’s Weblogic server, etc.

Micro Edition

The Java Platform, Micro Edition ( or simply Java ME ) allows Java developers to develop embedded applications for portable small-screen micro devices like pagers, setup boxes, cellphones, mobile applications, etc. Java ME SDK( Software Development Kit ) requires Java SE. Java ME also provides an embedded emulation environment to test the applications on an Emulator.

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