Java Language Specification

Second Edition

The Java Language Specification, Second Edition, was the official, authoritative specification of the Java programming language. It was published in April 2000 and followed the First Edition of the JLS.

It specifies the Java programming language as implemented in J2SE 1.2. This version of Java also was called “Java 2” (thus the “2” in “J2SE”).

This Second Edition goes beyond the First Edition of the JLS by specifying features like:

• nested type declarations (introduced in JDK 1.1 in 1997)
• the strictfp keyword (introduced in J2SE 1.2 in 1998)

While not a feature of the actual language, JDK 1.1 introduced reflection, and J2SE 1.2 introduced an early (not yet generic) version of the Collections framework.

This specification is not available online anymore, however, it is archived in the Internet Archive’s WayBack Machine.

It also provides an archived version of the API documentation of the corresponding J2SE / JDK 1.2.2.