What is the main difference between the Java platform and the other software platforms?

Java platform is a software-only platform, which runs on top of other hardware-based platforms like UNIX, NT etc.

The Java platform has 2 components:

􀂃 Java Virtual Machine (JVM) – ‘JVM’ is a software that can be ported onto various hardware platforms. Byte

codes are the machine language of the JVM.

􀂃 Java Application Programming Interface (Java API) – set of classes written using the Java language and run

on the JVM.