What is Java Virtual Machine (JVM)?

The Java Virtual Machine is a program which is used to execute other programs, generally, java bytecode programs. JVM along with the class libraries (java packages) is the minimum requirement for executing java programs on any device (PC, laptop, mobiles etc...).

Some of the features provided by JVM are as follows:

• Automated exception handling
• Memory management (garbage collection)
• Bytecode verification

JVM is not platform independent. JVM for windows is different from JVM for linux. Similarly JVM for linux is different from JVM for MacOSX and so on.

Main components inside JVM are as follows:

• Bytecode verifier
• Memory manager
• Just-In-Time (JIT) compiler

Java Virtual Machine (JVM) developed by Oracle is named Hotspot.