A Java compiler is a compiler for the Java programming language.
Some Java compilers output optimized machine code for a particular hardware/operating system combination, called a domain specific computer system. An example would be the now discontinued GNU Compiler for Java.[1]
The most common form of output from a Java compiler is Java class files containing cross-platform intermediate representation (IR), called Java bytecode.[2]
The Java virtual machine (JVM) loads the class files and either interprets the bytecode or just-in-time compiles it to machine code and then possibly optimizes it using dynamic compilation.
A standard on how to interact with Java compilers was specified in JSR 199.[3]
See also
- List of Java Compilers
- javac, the standard Java compiler in Oracle's JDK
References
External links
- Sun's OpenJDK javac page
- Stephan Diehl, "A Formal Introduction to the Compilation of Java", Software - Practice and Experience, Vol. 28(3), pages 297-327, March 1998.