With the JavaBeans Activation Framework standard extension, developers who use Java technology can take advantage of standard services to determine the type of an arbitrary piece of data, encapsulate access to it, discover the operations available on it, and to instantiate the appropriate bean to perform said operation(s). For example, if a browser obtained a JPEG image, this framework would enable the browser to identify that stream of data as an JPEG image, and from that type, the browser could locate and instantiate an object that could manipulate, or view that image. The JavaBeans Activation Framework is implemented as a standard extension. Sun provides a royalty-free reference implementation of the JAF software, in binary form, that developers can use to develop JAF technology-enabled applications for any platform that supports the Java Development Kit (JDK) 1.1 software or the Java 2 Standard Edition. Sun's reference implementation of the JAF standard extension is available for download below. that could manipulate, or view that image. The JavaBeans Activation Framework is implemented as a standard extension. Sun provides a royalty-free reference implementation of the JAF software, in binary form, that developers can use to develop JAF technology-enabled applications for any platform that supports the Java Development Kit (JDK) 1.1 software or the Java 2 Standard Edition. Sun's reference implementation of the JAF standard extension is available for download below.