| IKVM | |
|---|---|
| Other names | IKVM.NET |
| Original author | Jeroen Frijters |
| Developers | Windward Studios, Jerome Haltom |
| Stable release | 8.15.0[1] 
/ 6 December 2025 |
| Written in | Java and C# |
| Operating system | Cross-platform |
| Type | Java virtual machine, Java bytecode compiler and Java Library |
| License | zlib License |
| Website | ikvm |
| Repository | |
IKVM (formerly IKVM.NET) is an implementation of Java for Common Language Infrastructure implementations such as Mono and the Microsoft .NET Framework. IKVM is free software, distributed under the zlib permissive free software license.[2]
Work started on IKVM early in 2000 to assist migration of a Java-based reporting package from Sumatra to Microsoft .NET. The original developer, Jeroen Frijters, discontinued work on IKVM in 2015.[3] In 2018, Windward Studios forked IKVM.NET to continue development on the open-sourced IKVM.[4] In 2022 Jerome Haltom and others picked up the work on a new GitHub organization and finished .NET Core support.[5]
Components
editIKVM includes the following components:
- A Java virtual machine (JVM) implemented in .NET
- A .NET implementation of the Java class libraries
- A tool that translates Java bytecode (JAR files) to .NET IL (DLLs or EXE files).
- Tools that enable Java and .NET interoperability
IKVM can run compiled Java code (bytecode) directly on Microsoft .NET or Mono. The bytecode is converted on the fly to CIL and executed.
By contrast J# is a Java syntax on the .NET framework, whereas IKVM is effectively a Java framework running on top of the .NET framework.
Jeroen Frijters was the main contributor to IKVM. He is Technical Director of Sumatra Software, based in the Netherlands.[6]
Name
editThe "IKVM" portion of the name is a play on "JVM" in which the author "just took the two letters adjacent to the J".[7]
Status
editIKVM 8 implements Java 8.
The IKVM organization also maintains IKVM.Maven.Sdk,[8] an extension to the .NET PackageReference system that allows direct references to and transpiling of Maven artifacts. IKVM.Maven.Sdk is also available on NuGet.org.[9]
Example
editThe following is a .NET application written in Java, which prints the list of files in the current directory.
Note that in IKVM, the System.* namespace in .NET is written as cli.System.*.[10]
package org.wikipedia.examples;
import cli.System.IO.*;
public class Example {
public static void main(String[] args) {
String[] files = Directory.GetFiles(".");
for (String file : files) {
System.out.println(file);
}
}
}
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ "Release 8.15.0". 6 December 2025. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
- ^ "License". www.ikvm.net. Archived from the original on 2020-02-22. Retrieved 2007-03-10.
- ^ "The End of IKVM.NET". Archived from the original on 2017-07-18. Retrieved 2017-07-22.
- ^ "IKVM is alive & well". www.windwardstudios.com.
- ^ "IKVM - Java Virtual Machine for .NET". GitHub. 27 August 2022.
- ^ "Sumatra Software b.v." Retrieved 2014-04-30.
- ^ "osdir mailing list archive for java.ikvm.devel". Archived from the original on 2012-12-27. Retrieved 2012-10-09.
- ^ "IKVM.Maven.Sdk". GitHub.
- ^ "IKVM.Maven.Sdk". www.nuget.org.
- ^ "IKVM Tutorial". ikvm.org. Windward Studios, Jerome Haltom. 2023.
