Updating JRE vs. SDK

[Tony Smith]

Hi,

I trying to learn Java by going through the Head First Java, Second Edition. Although I am just learning Java I am no stranger to software development and have extensive experience with COBOL, assembler, VSAM, DB2, CICS, etc. (mainframe technologies).

With respect to the JRE I see I can have it set to automatically pull updates from Sun, when seems like a good idea. However it appears that the SDK would not be updated unless I performed a manual install. In a devlopment environment should the JRE updates be turned off so that the JRE and SDK stay at the same level - or does it matter? What do most people do?

Thanks,

Tony

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

Hi Tony,

Welcome to JavaRanch!

First, a bit of business: you may not have read our naming policy on the way in. It requires that you use a full, real (sounding) first and last name for your display name. A single name isn't enough. You can change your display name here. Thanks!

As to your question: The JDK includes a JRE. Most developers don't have a separate JRE installed on their machines, so this isn't an issue. Just keep one (or more) JDKs, and update them yourself as appropriate. The auto-update feature is an end-user thing (as is the JRE itself). Developers generally want to control this themselves.

[Tony Smith]

OK - I am down with the naming standard now.

I did download the JDK and noticed it included the JRE. So it sounds like I was correct in turning off the auto update feature (in the Jave Control Panel) so that my JDK and JRE don't get out of sync. Then ever so often I should simply reinstall a newer release of the JDK.

Sound approriate?

Thanks,

Tony

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

Yes, and thanks.