TheJava languagehas undergone several changes sinceJDK1.0 as wellas numerous additions of classes and packages to the standardlibrary.Since J2SE 1.4, the evolution of the Java language has been governedby theJava Community Process(JCP), which uses
Java SpecificationRequests
(JSRs) to propose and specify additions and changes to theJava platform. The language is specified by the
Java LanguageSpecification
(JLS); changes to the JLS are managed underJSR 901.In addition to the language changes, much more dramatic changes havebeen made to the Java class library over the years, which has grownfrom a few hundred classes in JDK 1.0 to over three thousand in J2SE5.0. Entire new APIs, such asSwingandJava2D, have been introduced,and many of the original JDK 1.0 classes and methods have beendeprecated.Some programs allow to convert Java programs from one version of theJava Platformto an older one (for example Java 5.0 backported to 1.4)(seeJava backportingtools).
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