The Java Development Kit is a development environment for building applications, components and applets using the Java programming language. 

The JDK includes tools useful for developing and testing programs written in the Java programming language and running on the Java platform.

Contents of the JDK

Development Tools
(In the bin/ subdirectory) Tools and utilities that will help you develop, execute, debug, and document programs written in the JavaTM programming language. 

Runtime Environment
(In the jre/ subdirectory) An implementation of the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) for use by the JDK. The JRE includes a Java Virtual Machine (JVM), class libraries, and other files that support the execution of programs written in the Java programming language.

Additional Libraries
(In the lib/ subdirectory) Additional class libraries and support files required by the development tools.

Demo Applets and Applications
(In the demo/ subdirectory) Examples, with source code, of programming for the Javaplatform. These include examples that use Swing and other Java Foundation Classes, and the Java Platform Debugger Architecture.

Sample Code
(In the sample subdirectory) Samples, with source code, of programming for certain Java API's.

C header Files
(In the include/ subdirectory) Header files that support native-code programming using the Java Native Interface, the JVM Tool Interface, and other functionality of the Javaplatform.

Source Code
(In src.zip) Java programming language source files for all classes that make up the Java core API (that is, sources files for the java.*, javax.* and some org.* packages, but not for com.sun.* packages). This source code is provided for informational purposes only, to help developers learn and use the Java programming language. These files do not include platform-specific implementation code and cannot be used to rebuild the class libraries. To extract these file, use any common zip utility. Or, you may use the Jar utility in the JDK's bin/ directory:
jar xvf src.zip

What's New in This Release: [ read full changelog ]

This update release contains functionality enhancements for Java applications:
· New JVM (Java HotSpot Virtual Machine, version 22) that improves reliability and performance
· Support for Oracle Solaris 11
· Support for Firefox 5 and later
· JavaFX is included with Java SE

For Java SE 7u2, the following system configurations have been certified:
· Oracle Solaris 11
· Firefox 5, 6, 7, and 8

Enhanced Security Through Old Release Warnings:
· If users have a version of Java on their systems that is below the security baseline, a warning message is displayed before an application or an applet can be run.

In Java SE 7u2, demos and samples have been removed from the JDK installers and placed into separate bundles:
· On Windows, demos and samples are available as .zip files.

This release introduces the following improvements for web-deployed applications:
· Non-blocking installation of JRE and JavaFX using Deployment Toolkit: The web page continues to accept user input while Deployment To...