Differences between JDK and Java SDK

Question

Is there any substantial difference between those two terms?. I understand that JDK stands for Java Development Kit that is a subset of SDK (Software Development Kit). But s

Answer 1

From this wikipedia entry:

The JDK is a subset of what is loosely defined as a software development kit (SDK) in the general sense. In the descriptions which accompany their recent releases for Java SE, EE, and ME, Sun acknowledge that under their terminology, the JDK forms the subset of the SDK which is responsible for the writing and running of Java programs. The remainder of the SDK is composed of extra software, such as Application Servers, Debuggers, and Documentation.

The "extra software" seems to be Glassfish, MySQL, and NetBeans. This page gives a comparison of the various packages you can get for the Java EE SDK.

Answer 2

There's no difference between JDK and Java SDK. Both of them mean the same thing. I think it was a PR decision at Sun to change over from JDK to Java SDK. I think its back to JDK for now.