Developers who want to develop on a JVM should always install JDK. It bundles the Java Runtime Environment (JRE), the Java compiler, and various development tools, some of which we will explore in this chapter. Even if you are planning to do most of your JVM development in a language other than Java, it is strongly advised that you still install the complete JDK. Many prominent development tools require a fully installed JDK to run. Also, sooner or later, you'll probably want to use some of the tools that are only included in JDK.
The recent version of the Linux distribution of the Raspberry Pi installs the Java SE Embedded 8 JDK automatically when using the default Raspian installation options. Be aware though that, often, the supplied version is not up-to-date. We are not aware of other major operating systems that bundle JDK with their default installation. We will...
