PlasmaDragon wrote:
I'm a bit confused about the version number of Java. It's called
J2EE, J2SE and J2ME, which implies it is at version 2. But just
looking at java.sun.com, I can see a download for J2SE 1.5 beta! So,
which is it: version 2 or version 1.5?
First, you have mentioned three different products above, J2EE, J2SE and
J2ME. Others might even say that Java itself constitutes a fourth.
The versions of J2EE and J2SE have no direct correlation. (In practice,
I'm sure that each J2EE version depends on having at least a specific
version of a JRE (part of J2SE) or greater.) J2EE is "Java 2 Enterprise
Edition" and is a framework for creating enterprise-level applications
in Java. J2SE is "Java 2 Standard Edition" and consists of the JRE
(Java Runtime Environment) and the JDK (Java Development Kit) and can be
used to run and develop any Java applications.
J2ME is "Java 2 Micro Edition", which is a version of Java intended to
be embedded in devices. That's about all I know about it.
As for the versioning issue, I think what you see is a schism between
the marketing and engineering departments at Sun. Someone in marketing
wanted to call the next version of Java, "Java 2" and the engineering
department just ignored it and continued as it was.
In effect, everybody uses the 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, etc. style of
version when referring to Java. Think of "Java 2" as more of the name
of the product than the version and you will be on track.
The latest stable version of Java is 1.4.2 and the latest beta is 1.5.
Ray
