The Java programming language is, according to the TIOBE programming community index, one of the top choices of software developers, battling for supremacy with the C and C-based languages. Its features are utilized on most of the electronic equipment worldwide, from PCs, mobile terminals or media players to more sophisticated medical devices.
The Java platform provides one environment to develop software for multiple operating systems such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X or Linux distributions. While the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) allows you to execute Java applications, components and applets, the Java Development Kit (JDK) delivers a comprehensive set of tools for programmers to build, run, debug and even document the Java code.
You are also given access to the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) component of JRE alongside class libraries and support files in order to implement your applications. JDK comes packing demonstrative source codes and particular APIs using Java Foundation Classes including Swing as well as the Java Platform Debugger Architecture. It also sports learning material for Java programming language beginners in the form of various Java core API source files.
Being the most commonly used Java Software Development Kit (SDK), JDK's firsthand components comprise the loader for Java application (simply called `java`) - the interpreter of class files created by the compiler (javac), the compiler itself that takes the source code from its raw form to Java bytecode and the `appletviewer` for executing and debugging java applets.
In addition to these tools, the JDK also brings the annotation-processing tool, the `extcheck` for JAR-file conflict detection, the `idlj` IDL to Java compiler, the `javadoc` documentation generator that utilizes source code comments or the `jar` archiver that sums up the related class libraries within a single JAR file. Other tools include a disassembler, a launcher, a debugger, a Java command-line script shell or a policy creation and management utility.
Bottomline is that Java Development Kit ensembles a powerful set of tools and everything that comes to aid programmers no matter their knowledge-level in fulfilling their Java applications. Nevertheless, JDK is the bread and butter of any Java developer out there.

What's New in This Release:
· Number of opened files used in select() is limited to 1024 [macosx]
· Feedback on README-builds.html
· new hotspot build - hs25-b47
· [TESTBUG] remove crufty '_g' support from HS tests
· Enable Class Data Sharing for CompressedOops
· ObjectAlignmentInBytes=16 now forces the use of heap based compressed oops
· The -Xshare:auto option is ignored for -server
· Unsafe volatile double store on bsd is broken
· NPG: performance counters for compressed klass space
· ClassDump ignored jarStream setting
· Change InstanceKlass::_source_file_name and _generic_signature from Symbol* to constant pool indexes.
· HOTSPOT_BUILD_COMPILER needs to support "Sun Studio 12u3"
· Bad code generated for certain interpreted CRC intrinsics, 2 cases
· Cleanup the public interface to PhaseCFG
· ciReplay test assumes TIERED compilation is available
· Add WB APIs for OSR compilation
· Broken JIT compiler optimization for loop unswitching
· Clang: enable return type warnings on BSD
· Redundant class init check
· G1: optimize nmethods scanning
· G1: G1Col...