u235

I went to download the "developer's stuff" for Java - you know more than just the runtime accessories for my browser. As an old C/C++ dev I googled "Java download SDK". SDK - Software Development Kit. It's what you usually call the stuff people need to do "development". But then I noticed that there was a separate page, and separate download for the JDK. JDK - Java Developers Kit.

So which is it? JDK or SDK? (Let's not even start with the fact that there are two JDK downloads - with Beans or No Beans...)

And then there's the JRE - Java Runtime Environment, which I *think* I know what it is.

I googled again "What is the difference between JDK and SDK" and found this charming thread: http://forum.java.sun.com/thread.jspa?threadID=690031&messageID=9973665

For those too lazy to follow the thread, the question posed is pretty direct: "What is the difference between Java JDK/SDK and JRE?" ...and as might be expected - the first response from ProTroll "jesperdj" is typically snotty and bereft of useful information (clue: over 1k posts and a meaningless name). Hey dickhead if the answer was so obvious then why do I have to search for it?

The next post is a little more useful but still doesn't explain JDK vs SDK. The third reply also fails in the same way that it doesn't explain the difference between Java and Software (uh, isn't Java like, software of some sort?)

Finally arch123 comes out and asks even more plainly "i want to know the difference between jdk and sdk. purpose of using jdk and purpose of using sdk". Here, here well said. So what really IS the difference?

Then the magic is finally laid bare... basically *no* one understands, but heck - when in doubt blame the marketing dweebs "JDK stands for Java Development Kit. It's the same as the Java SDK. For PR reason it was called JDK, then Java SDK (i think it's back at JDK again). But it was always the same thing." So what you're telling me is that it's the same horse (or Spy) but just a different color?

The thread ends where it basically began with someone asking "If JDK and SDK are the same thing, why does the download page include a download for the SDK without a JDK?"

And from there a massive silence ensues...