Java virtual machine: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 17:11, 2 June 2003

Revision as of 13:47, 14 July 2003

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The '''Java virtual machine''' or '''JVM''' is a [[Virtual machine]] that runs Java [[byte code]], the code produced by a [[Java programming language|Java]] [[compiler]] or compilers from other languages which produce this code.

Programs written in Java are compiled into a standardized portable binary format, which typically comes in the form of files with the [[class (file format)|.class]] extension. A program may consist of many classes, in which case, every class will be in a different file. The first 4 bytes in hexadecimal of each class must be CA FÉFE BA BE. Class files may be packaged together in a [[jar (file format)|.jar]] file, with the exact same format as a [[zip (file format)|.zip]] file, optionally with a few extra special files added.

This binary is then interpreted at runtime by a JVM. The main interpretation loop is described by the following pseudo-code