JRE versions compatibility

[LMichel]

I've several applications requiring different versions of the sun JRE.
My question is: what should I install on my computers to be sure that all my applications will work.
It's seems that versions of JRE are not backward compatible. Which versions are compatibles and which are not?
Can I install two version of the JRE side by side?

 

[Diancecht]

I guess there's no universal answer for your question. Different versions are not fully compatible, but a high percentage of them are. Depending on your application and the JREs you're planning to use, they can be even fully compatible.

You can take a look at this:

http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/compatibility.html

http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/compatibility.html

Cheers,
Dian