Difference in Java versions

Question

Are there any differences between these two java versions. If there are any differences how can I have the version java version "1.4.2" because that is what I have in server.

1)

java version "1.4.2_06"
Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.4.2_06-b03)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.4.2_06-b03, mixed mode)

2)

 java version "1.4.2"
 Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.4.2)
 Classic VM (build 1.4.2, J2RE 1.4.2 IBM AIX

• user207421: Different implementations of slightly different levels of the same release of Java. You shouldn't be using either of them at this stage, you should be using nothing earlier than 1.6.

Answer 1

They are very different from the implementation point of view as the first one is from Sun and the second from IBM. Since they are from different vendors, the patch level means nothing (the _06 on the Sun JDK).

From a behaviour point of view, they should be the same. Having said that, I remember some issues in the past with the IBM jdk, in which it would perform really poorly.

If you want to use IBM's version of java, you can get it from here.

• Jacob: Thanks for the information. Reason why I posted this because when I tried to do some deployment to server from command line, I am having few issues so wonder this could be difference in java versions. So behavior point of view both are same? I may not able to install IBM version because I am on Windows XP. Regards
• Augusto: You can get IBMs jdk if you have one of their products for windows. See this other question. I have the strong feeling that these 2 JDKs use different command line parameters to modify GC and other memory options (I don't know if your problem is related to that)
• Jacob: I tried to install this, however while installation I got error message "this is not IBM system"
• Augusto: Try downloading WebSphere 5.1 for windows, as it has java 1.4.2. I should add that WebSphere 5.1 and java 1.4 have reached their end-of-life long time ago (around 2008), so it might be a bit tricky to get them.
• Marko Topolnik: There is no point in trying to use an IBM JVM outside the WebSphere and anyway, the only sane way to test is on the server. You can freely compile your code against a local JDK 1.4, but if you test locally, the differences are much more than just the version of the JVM.

Answer 2

I suggest that you carefully compare the "bugs fixed" sections of the respective release notes for the respective versions.

Note that the release date for the 1.4.2_06 version is 2004年12月10日 (according to the release notes), while the IBM version name is "20090307" which implies that it was built ~5 years later. While there is no guarantee that the IBM version has tracked all of the fixes to that date, it is a fair assumption that they will have (at least) tracked the security-related patches.

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Reason why I posted this because when I tried to do some deployment to server from command line, I am having few issues so wonder this could be difference in java versions.

Possibly, but (IMO) it is more likely that the problem is nothing to do with the version of Java. Either way, I think that an enumeration of the differences is unlikely to help you isolate your problem.

I suggest that you ask a new Question in which you describe your actual problems. We may or may not be able to help ... but I think your chance of success is greater than with your current approach.