Glossary - Java Software Solutions: Foundations of Program Design - page 652

interface— (1) A Java reserved word that is used
to define a set of abstract methods that will
be implemented by particular classes. (2) The
set of messages to which an object responds,
defined by the methods that can be invoked
from outside of the object. (3) The techniques
through which a human user interacts with a
program, often graphically. See also graphical
user interface.
interface hierarchy— A tree-like structure created
when interfaces are derived from other interfaces
through inheritance. See also class hierarchy.
interpreter— A program that translates and
executes code on a particular machine. The
Java interpreter translates and executes Java
bytecode. See also compiler.
Internet— The most pervasive wide-area network
in the world; it has become the primary vehicle
for computer-to-computer communication.
Internet address— A designation that uniquely
identifies a particular computer or device on
the Internet.
invisible component— A graphical user inter-
face component that can be added to a con-
tainer to provide buffering space between other
components.
invocation— See method invocation.
I/O devices— See input/output devices.
IP address— A series of several integer values,
separated by periods (.), that uniquely identifies
a particular computer or device on the Internet.
Each Internet address has a corresponding IP
address.
is-a relationship— The relationship created
through properly derived classes via inheri-
tance. The subclass is-a more specific version
of the superclass. See also has-a relationship.
ISO-Latin-1— A 128-character extension to the
ASCII character set defined by the International

Standards Organization (ISO). The characters
correspond to the numeric values 128 through
255 in both ASCII and Unicode.
iteration— (1) One execution of the body of a
repetition statement. (2) One pass through a
cyclic process, such as an iterative development
process.
iteration statement— See repetition statement.
iterative development process— A step-by-step
approach for creating software, which contains
a series of stages that are performed repetitively.
Java Virtual Machine (JVM)— The conceptual
device, implemented in software, on which
Java bytecode is executed. Bytecode, which is
architecture neutral, does not run on a particu-
lar hardware platform; instead, it runs on the
JVM.
java— The Java command-line interpreter,
which translates and executes Java bytecode.
Part of the Java Development Kit.
Java— The programming language used
throughout this text to demonstrate software
development concepts. Described by its devel-
opers as object oriented, robust, secure, archi-
tecture neutral, portable, high-performance,
interpreted, threaded, and dynamic.
Java API— See Application Programming
Interface.
Java Development Kit (JDK)— A collection of
basic software tools, including a compiler and
interpreter, for developing Java software. See
also Software Development Kit.
javac— The Java command-line compiler, which
translates Java source code into Java bytecode.
Part of the Java Development Kit.
javadoc— A software tool that creates external
documentation in HTML format about the
contents and structure of a Java software sys-
tem. Part of the Java Development Kit.