"These specifications are our holy book."
- Gilad Bracha, co-author, "The Java Language Specification 2.0"
JLS, the Java Language Specification is a Reference
manual published by Sun Microsystems, which provides complete,
accurate and detailed coverage of the syntax and semantics
of the Java programming language.The JLS explains the precise
meaning of the Java language's
constructs. Anybody is free to implement a
Java compiler, confined to the standards specified by the JLS.
The JLS was first Published in 1996. The JLS was and is of vital
importance to implementors of the Java platform, as well as to
compiler developers, all of whom, by the very nature of their
licensing agreements with Sun Microsystems, are held to precise
technical conformance standards. The JLS underwent a ,major
revision in June 2000, taking into account the new
state of the Java programming language and the Java platform.