A Java virtual machine (JVM) is an abstract computing machine. There are three notions of the JVM: specification, implementation, and instance. The specification is a book that formally describes what is required of a JVM implementation. Having a single specification ensures all implementations are interoperable. A JVM implementation is a computer program that implements requirements of the JVM specification in a compliant and preferably performant manner. An instance of the JVM is a process that executes a computer program compiled into Java bytecode. Java Virtual Machine implementation, together with the standard libraries, forms the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) and is the core execution component of the Java platform.
