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<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Java compiler</span></span>
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<p>A <b>Java compiler</b> is a <a href="Compiler" title="Compiler">compiler</a> for the <a href="Java_(programming_language)" title="Java (programming language)">Java programming language</a>.
</p><p>Some Java compilers output optimized <a href="Machine_code" title="Machine code">machine code</a> for a particular hardware/<a href="Operating_system" title="Operating system">operating system</a> combination, called a <i><a href="Computing_platform" title="Computing platform">domain specific</a></i> <i><a href="Computer_system" class="mw-redirect" title="Computer system">computer system</a></i>. An example would be the now discontinued <a href="GNU_Compiler_for_Java" title="GNU Compiler for Java">GNU Compiler for Java</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>The most common form of output from a Java compiler is <a href="Java_class_file" title="Java class file">Java class files</a> containing <a href="Cross-platform" class="mw-redirect" title="Cross-platform">cross-platform</a> <a href="Intermediate_representation" title="Intermediate representation">intermediate representation</a> (IR), called <a href="Java_bytecode" title="Java bytecode">Java bytecode</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>The <a href="Java_virtual_machine" title="Java virtual machine">Java virtual machine</a> (JVM) loads the class files and either <a href="Interpreter_(computing)" title="Interpreter (computing)">interprets</a> the <a href="Bytecode" title="Bytecode">bytecode</a> or <a href="Just-in-time_compilation" title="Just-in-time compilation">just-in-time</a> compiles it to <a href="Machine_code" title="Machine code">machine code</a> and then possibly optimizes it using <a href="Dynamic_compilation" title="Dynamic compilation">dynamic compilation</a>.
</p><p>A standard on how to interact with Java compilers was specified in <a href="Java_Specification_Request" class="mw-redirect" title="Java Specification Request">JSR</a> 199.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2></div>
<ul><li><a href="List_of_compilers#Java_compilers" title="List of compilers">List of Java Compilers</a></li>
<li><a href="Javac" title="Javac">javac</a>, the standard Java compiler in Oracle's <a href="Java_Development_Kit" title="Java Development Kit">JDK</a></li></ul>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>
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</style><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://lwn.net/Articles/130796/">"GCJ - past, present, and future"</a>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190802072307/https://lwn.net/Articles/130796/">Archived</a> from the original on 2019-08-02<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2021-09-24</span></span>.</cite></span>
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<li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://docs.oracle.com/javase/specs/jvms/se8/html/jvms-1.html#jvms-1.2">"The Java Virtual Machine Specification, Java SE 8 Edition, Section 1.2"</a>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210924135604/https://docs.oracle.com/javase/specs/jvms/se8/html/jvms-1.html#jvms-1.2">Archived</a> from the original on 2021-09-24<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2021-09-24</span></span>.</cite></span>
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<li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=199">"JSR 199: JavaTM Compiler API"</a>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210924135603/https://jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=199">Archived</a> from the original on 2021-09-24<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2021-09-24</span></span>.</cite></span>
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2></div>
<ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://openjdk.java.net/groups/compiler/">Sun's OpenJDK javac page</a></li>
<li>Stephan Diehl, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://people.cis.ksu.edu/~hatcliff/605/XC/java-comp.pdf.gz">"A Formal Introduction to the Compilation of Java"</a>, <i>Software - Practice and Experience</i>, Vol. <b>28</b>(3), pages 297-327, March 1998.</li></ul>
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