Developer(s) IBM License IBM EULA | Type Java Virtual Machine | |
Operating system | ||
J9 is a Java Virtual Machine program developed by IBM. The J9 VM is the basis of multiple IBM Java offerings, including WebSphere Micro Edition, as well as the basis of all IBM Java Development kits since version 5. IBM has also made the J9 VM available to the Apache Harmony project for use in running their class libraries. However, while IBM previously provided JRE binaries for download for Windows, it stopped offering Windows versions of its Java JDK. As of IBM's current Java 8 versions, it is only packaging Win32/Win64 builds with WebSphere fixpaks. The only platforms for which IBM offers standalone JRE/JDK downloads are AIX, Linux, Z-OS and IBM i (AS400).
The design of the J9 VM has been aimed at portability to different platforms, as well as scaling from mobile phones all the way to IBM System z mainframes.
IBM released the source code for VM, GC, JIT and RAS tools under Eclipse OMR project.