JDK stands for Java Development Kit. It is a software development environment used to develop Java applications and applets. It is a platform-specific software i.e there are separate installers for Windows, Mac, and Unix systems. JRE stands for Java Runtime Environment. It is the implementation of JVM (Java Virtual Machine) and it is specially designed to provide an environment to execute Java programs. It is also platform dependent like JDK.
Difference between JDK and JRE are stated below
| KEY | JDK | JRE |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | JDK(Java Development Kit) is used to develop Java applications. JDK also contains numerous development tools like compilers, debuggers, etc. | JRE(Java Runtime Environment) is the implementation of JVM(Java Virtual Machine) and it is specially designed to execute Java programs. |
| Functionality | It is mainly used for the execution of code and its main functionality is development. | It is mainly used for creating an environment for code execution. |
| Dependency Of Platform | It is platform-dependent. | It is also platform-dependent like JDK. |
| Type Of Tools | Since JDK is responsible for the development purpose, therefore it contains tools which are required for development and debugging purpose. | On the other hand, JRE is not responsible for development purposes so it doesn’t contain such tools as the compiler, debugger, etc. Instead, it contains class libraries and supporting files required for the purpose of execution of the program. |
| Implementation Of JDK and JRE | JDK = JRE + other development tools. | JRE = JVM + other class libraries. |