The Java language has undergone several changes since JDK 1.0 as well as numerous additions of classes and packages to the standard library.
These new versions brought enhancements, new capabilities and fixes to bugs. In addition to the language changes, much more changes have been made to the Java class library over the years, which has grown from a few hundred classes.
This edition contains the core language packages (the name for code libraries in Java) and is aimed for desktop programming.
1. JDK 1.0 (January 23, 1996)
2. JDK 1.1 (February 19, 1997)
3. J2SE 1.2 (December 8, 1998)
4. J2SE 1.3 (May 8, 2000)
5. J2SE 1.4 (February 6, 2002)
6. J2SE 5.0 (September 30, 2004)
7. Java SE 6 (December 11, 2006)
8 Java SE 7 (July 28, 2011)
1996: Version 1.0 of the Java Development Kit (JDK) was released by Sun.
Ø 8 packages with 212 classes.
Ø Netscape 2.0-4.0 included Java 1.0.
Ø Microsoft and other companies licensed Java.
1997: Version 1.1
Ø 23 packages - 504 classes
Ø Improvements include better event handling, inner classes, improved JVM.
Ø Microsoft developed its own 1.1. compatible Java Virtual Machine for the Internet Explorer.
Ø Many browsers in use are still compatible only with 1.1.
1999: Version 1.2, also called the Java 2 Platform.
Ø 59 packages - 1520 classes
Ø Code and tools distributed as The Software Development Kit (SDK).
Ø Java Foundation Classes (JFC), for improved graphics and user interfaces, now included with the core language.
Ø Collections API included support for various lists, sets, and hash maps.
2000: Version 1.3
Ø 76 packages - 1842 classes
Ø Performance enhancements including the Hotspot virtual machine.
2002: Version 1.4
Ø 135 packages - 2991 classes
Ø Improved IO, XML support, etc.
2004: Version 5.0 (previously numbered 1.5)
Ø 165 packages, over 3000 classes
Ø Faster startup and smallerJava SE 6 (December 11, 2006)
Ø As of this version, Sun replaced the name "J2SE" with Java SE and dropped the ".0" from the version number. Internal numbering for developers remains 1.6.0.
Ø During the development phase, new builds including enhancements and bug fixes were released approximately weekly. Beta versions were released in February and June 2006, leading up to a final release that occurred on December 11, 2006.
Ø memory footprint
Java SE 7 (July 28, 2011)
Ø Java 7 is a major update to Java which was launched on July 7 of and was made available for developers on July 28, 2011.
Ø Automatic resource management in try Statement(Exception Handling).
Ø Java SE 7 Update1 2011-10-18 20 security fixes, other bug fixes.
Ø Java SE 7 Update 2 2011-12-11 0 security fixes, other bug fixes.
