In this chapter, you have learned the most important Java related terms—JVM, JDK, SDK, Java platform, and others, covering the main phases of a Java program's life cycle, from source code to bytecode to execution. You also learned about Java's history, the motivation behind its creation, its editions, and its versions. The practical steps and advice provided have helped you to install Java on your computer and exercise its main commands, java, javac, and jcmd. For more details, you were referred to the official Oracle documentation. The ability to find and understand this documentation is a prerequisite for a successful career as a Java programmer, so we recommend that you follow all of the provided links and do some related searching on the internet, so that you feel comfortable finding good sources of information.
In the next chapter, we will dive into Java as a programming language, and will cover the basics. This will become a foundation (or a jumping board, if you will) for the following chapters. If you are new to Java, we recommend that you continue reading without skipping, because each chapter is built on knowledge from the previous one. Even if you have some Java exposure, it is always helpful to review the basics again. Repetitio est mater studiorum (Repetition is the mother of study/learning), says a Latin proverb.
