🚀 go-pugleaf

I have been trying for weeks to find information that will answer some
basic questions regarding the JVM and the way it runs JAVA processes.

We are trying to develop a large JAVA based system that, if it is done
in the way we always have, will consist of several ( 10 or more)
processes running independently but commuincating with each other via
some form of interprocess communications.  In the C/UNIX world with
which I am familiar we would have a shell script start up the various
processes that made up the system and they would communicate via shared
memory and/or named pipes and/or IPC messages.  Now, with JAVA, we are
trying to understand the operating environment of the JVM and having a
very difficult time grasping the way our model can fit in it.

Is it possible for one JVM to run multiple JAVA processes?  How would
they be started and in what way could they communicate?  Most
importantly, does anyone know of some place where questions like these
are answered?

Any help would be immensely appreciated.