Java's Versions

Java has had several releases in its early years and the language has quickly grown in size:

Version	# classes	# packages	Released	Comment
1.0	212	8	1996
1.1	504	23	1997
1.2	1520	59	1998	Also called "Java 2, Release 1.2"
1.3	1840	76	2000	Also called "Java 2, Release 1.3, Standard Edition". Version 1.3 focused on speed improvements, while adding fewer enhancements than previous releases.
1.4	2991	135	2002	Also called "Java 2, Release 1.4, Standard Edition". Version 1.4 focused on I/O and XML support .
5.0	3279	166	2004	Sometimes still referred to as "Java 2, Release 1.5, Standard Edition". Version 5.0 focused on speed/memory improvements and several developer improvements like generics and enumerated types.
6.0	3793	203	2006	Version 6.0 focused on speed and web service improvements as well as language improvements such as the addition of annotations.

Java's Editions

Three editions for Java are:

• Java Standard Edition (J2SE): the core Java language (previously just called "Java")
• Java Enterprise Edition (J2EE): which addresses using Java in the middle tier of large Enterprise Web applications
• Java Micro Edition (J2ME): as Java grew in size (to address requirements for large business applications), it became necessary to define a smaller edition with the "key" language features that were required to run software on small or embedded devices.

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