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Important Questions
Every Java program is first compiled into an intermediate language called Java bytecode. Java applications must be capable of executing on a variety of hardware architectures and operating systems. To accommodate this, the Java Compiler (javac) generates bytecodes-- an architecture neutral intermediate format designed to transport code efficiently to multiple hardware and software platforms.
Assembly code means the human readable form of a machine code. Byte code on the other hand is normaly a language that can be interpreted by a byte code interpreter -- so it is not the processors native language.
A Java virtual machine (JVM) is an abstract computing machine that enables a computer to run a Java program. There are three notions of the JVM: specification, implementation, and instance.
- The specification is a document that formally describes what is required of a JVM implementation. Having a single specification ensures all implementations are interoperable.
- A JVM implementation is a computer program that meets the requirements of the JVM specification.
- An instance of a JVM is an implementation running in a process that executes a computer program compiled into Java bytecode.
JVM is not platform independent, thats why you have different JVM for different operating systems.
The JVM is used primarily for 2 things:
- Translate the bytecode into the machine language for a particular computer
- Actually execute the corresponding machine-language instructions as well.
The JVM and bytecode combined give Java its status as a "portable" language – this is because Java bytecode can be transferred from one machine to another.
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