README

JavaTM 2 SDK, Standard Edition
Release Candidate for Version 1.2.2

Introduction
Thank you for downloading this release of the JavaTM 2 SDK, Standard Edition. The Java 2 SDK is a development environment for building applications, applets, and components that can be deployed on the Java platform.

The Java 2 SDK software includes tools useful for developing and testing programs written in the Java programming language and running on the Java platform. These tools are designed to be used from the command line. Except for appletviewer, these tools do not provide a graphical user interface.

The Win32 version of the Java 2 SDK includes the Java Plug-in. You can use the Java Plug-in to enable the Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator browsers to run applets based on the Java 2 platform. For more information about the Java Plug-in, including how to obtain a Solaris version, see the section Java 2 Runtime Environment and Java Plug-in below.

Features
The Java 2 SDK offers significant improvements in functionality, performance, security and global support over previous versions of the Java platform. See:

Java 2 SDK Documentation
This release candidate for verison 1.2.2 of the Java 2 SDK does not have an accompanying documentation bundle. Because version 1.2.2 is a maintenance release with no new features, you can use the version 1.2 documentation with this release, supplemented by the 1.2.2 Release Notes.

The online Java 2 SDK Documentation contains API specifications, developer guides, tool reference pages, demos, and links to related information. This documentation is also available in a download bundle which you can install locally with your Java 2 software. See the Java 2 SDK download page.

System Requirements
The Java 2 SDK software is available on three platforms: On all systems you should have 65 megabytes of free disk space before attempting to install the Java 2 SDK software. If you also install the separate documentation download bundle, you need an additional 90 megabytes of free disk space.

Solaris users will want to check the list of recommended and required patches.

It is strongly recommended that Solaris 2.6 users load the SUNWi1of package for optional Latin-1 fonts. This package is in the "Entire Distribution" Cluster, available on the Solaris software installation CD-ROM. SUNWi1of contains English Monotype TrueType fonts specified in the font properties files. Without this package, fonts will default to the LucidaSans font for off-screen text and to Type1 font for text in components.

Release Notes

See the Release Notes on the Java Developer Connection website for a summary of changes to the Java 2 SDK since the previous version and other information pertaining to this release. The online release notes will be updated as needed, so you should check it occasionally for the latest information.

Compatibility

See Compatibility with Previous Releases on the Java Software web site for the list of known compatibility issues. Every effort has been made to support programs written for the 1.0 or 1.1 platform. Although some incompatible changes were necessary, most software should migrate to current version with no reprogramming. Any failure to do so is considered a bug, except for a small number of cases where compatibility was deliberately broken, as described on our compatibility page. Some compatibility-breaking changes were required to close potential security holes or to fix implementation or design bugs.

Bug Reports and Feedback

The Bug Parade Web Page on the Java Developer Connection website lets you search for and examine existing bug reports, submit your own bug reports, and tell us which bug fixes matter most to you. To directly submit a bug or request a feature, fill out this form:
http://java.sun.com/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi
You can also send comments directly to Java Software engineering team email addresses.

Note - You should not seek technical support from Bug Parade or our development teams. For support options, see Support and Services on the Java Software web site.

Contents of the Java 2 SDK
This section contains a general summary of the files and directories in the Java 2 SDK. For details on the files and directories, see Java 2 SDK File Structure on Win32 Systems or Java 2 SDK File Structure on Solaris Systems
Development Tools
(In the bin subdirectory.) Programs that will help you develop, execute, debug, and document programs written in the Java programming language. For further information, see the tool documentation.

Java Runtime Environment
(In the jre subdirectory.) An implementation of the Java runtime environment for use by the SDK. The runtime environment includes a Java virtual machine, class libraries, and other files that support the execution of programs written in the Java programming language.

Additional libraries
(In the lib subdirectory.) Additional class libraries and support files required by the development tools.

Demo Applets and Applications
(In the demo subdirectory.) Examples, with source code, of programming for the Java platform. These include examples that use Swing and other Java Foundation Classes.

C header Files
(In the include subdirectory.) Header files that support native-code programming using the Java Native Interface and the Java Virtual Machine Debugger Interface

Old Native Interface Headers
(In the include-old subdirectory.) Header files that support native-code programming using older interfaces. The header files in include-old are provided only for backward-compatibility. These interfaces are deprecated, unsupported and not available on all Java virtual machines.

Source Code
(In src.jar archive file.) Java programming language source files for all classes that make up the Java 2 core API (that is, sources files for the java.*, javax.* and org.omg.* packages, but not for com.sun.* packages). This source code is provided for informational purposes only, to help developers learn and use the Java programming language. These files do not include platform-specific implementation code and cannot be used to rebuild the class libraries. To extract these file, use this command: 
    jar xvf src.jar

Do not modify core API source files. To extend the behavior of the core API, write subclasses of the core API classes.

For API documentation, refer to the following sources:

  • The Java Platform API Specification This provides brief descriptions of the API with an emphasis on specifications, not on examples.

  • The Java Class Libraries, Second Edition, published by Addison-Wesley Longman as part of The Java Series. These volumes include much more elaborate descriptions, with definitions of terminology and examples for practically every class, interface and member.

The Java 2 Runtime Environment and Java Plug-in
The download bundle for the Win32 version of the Java 2 SDK includes a redistributable copy of the Java 2 Runtime Environment and Java Plug-in, which you may optionally choose to install.

The Java 2 Runtime Environment allows you to run applications written in the Java programming language. It consists of the Java virtual machine, classes comprising the Java API, and supporting files, but contains no development tools such as compilers and debuggers. You may freely redistribute the Java 2 Runtime Environment with your application, according to the terms of the Runtime Environment's license. Once you've developed your application using the Java 2 SDK, you can ship it with the Runtime Environment so your end-users will have a Java platform on which to run your software.

Note that the Java 2 SDK has an internal implementation of a Java runtime environment for its own use. This internal runtime environment is contained in the SDK software's jre directory. Don't confuse the SDK's internal runtime environment with the Java 2 Runtime Environment, which is a separately installable product.

The Java 2 Runtime Environment requires additional software -- the Java Plug-in -- to enable it to run applets in a browser.

The Java Plug-in software allows Java applets and JavaBeans components to run in a browser using Sun's Java 2 Runtime Environment instead of the browser's default Java environment. The Java Plug-in works with Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. For general information on the Java Plug-in, see the Java Plug-in Overview. For documentation and an FAQ on the Java Plug-in, see Java Plug-in.

After you've installed the plug-in, you will see that the "Java Plug-in control panel" has been added to your Windows "Start" menu under "Programs". The plug-in will automatically load the Java runtime environment when the browser loads an HTML page with a special <OBJECT> HTML tag. The browser can then load applets from this page to make full use of 1.2 features, such as JFC (including Swing) and IDL. For details on how to configure your HTML pages to invoke the Java 2 runtime environment, see "Documentation" at Sun's Java Plug-in website.

Solaris versions of the Java 2 Runtime Environment and Java Plug-in are also available. Unlike the Win32 versions of these products, they are not included as optional parts of the Solaris Java 2 SDK installation. You can, however, download Solaris versions of the Java 2 Runtime Environment and Java Plug-in from the Java Software website.

You may redistribute the Java 2 Runtime Environment and Java Plug-in with your application, applet or JavaBean components, subject to the terms and conditions of its software license (found in the /Plug-in README and LICENSE files).

Sun Java Web Pages
For additional information, refer to these Sun Microsystems pages on the World Wide Web:
http://java.sun.com/
The Java Software web site, with the latest information on Java technology, product information, news, and features.
http://java.sun.com/products/jdk/1.2/index.html
Java 2 SDK Product and Download Page
http://java.sun.com/docs
Java Platform Documentation provides access to white papers, the Java Tutorial and other documents.
http://developer.java.sun.com/
The Java Developer Connection web site. (Free registration required.) Additional technical information, news, and features; user forums; support information, and much more.
http://java.sun.com/products/
Java Technology Products & API
http://www.sun.com/solaris/java/
Java Development Kit for Solaris - Production Release

The Java 2 SDK, Standard Edition, is a product of Sun MicrosystemsTM, Inc.

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