JDK / JRE / JVM Layers - Week 1 Visual

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JDK Java Development Kit

Everything a DEVELOPER needs

javac compiler debugger (jdb) jar tool javadoc jshell keytool

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JRE Java Runtime Environment

Everything needed to RUN Java programs

Java Class Libraries java.lang java.util java.io Deployment tools Security manager

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JVM Java Virtual Machine

The engine that executes bytecode

Class Loader Bytecode Verifier Interpreter JIT Compiler Garbage Collector

Click on any layer in the diagram
to see its detailed breakdown

Instructor Tip

When you installed IntelliJ and selected JDK 17, you got all three layers!

We use Amazon Corretto 17 — it's a free, production-ready JDK distribution backed by Amazon.