



Since JDKs and JREs are self contained, they do not need to be installed in the JavaVirtualMachines directory. NetBeans 8.2 cannot run on Java 11.Īlternative to Using java_home Exclusively Furthermore, there's no way to force java_home to choose a specific version as the default that would be returned by running the java_home command by itself.Ī specific example of this problem is trying to run NetBeans 8.2 when Java 11 is installed. This is a problem if the app cannot run on a newer version of Java. By default, the OS will run the newest version of Java in the JavaVirtualMachines directory.

While the above method works well when running Java from the command line, it will not work well for any application launched in the OS. bash_profile to allow quickly switching between the versions:Īlias j11="export JAVA_HOME=$(/usr/libexec/java_home -v 11) java -version"Īlias j8="export JAVA_HOME=$(/usr/libexec/java_home -v 1.8) java -version" The following aliases could be created in the. Let's say a user has both Java 8 and Java 11 installed. The java_home executable has access to JDKs & JREs installed here:Ĭommand to list all JDKs/JREs in the JavaVirtualMachines directory: One way to do this is through a combination of using the java_home executable and aliases, but this comes with some pitfalls you need to be aware of. The version of Java being used is determined by setting the JAVA_HOME system variable. MacOS allows installing different versions of Java. (Tip: You can use the same you use in the iTunes Store.) After logging in, type “java developer package” in the search field (see screenshot).Installing Multiple Versions of Java on Mac Fortunately, it’s free but you still need to register it. You’ll need an AppleID to download the JDK. The JDK for Mac OS X comes as “Java Developer Package”. Eclipse doesn’t ship with the Java source code though. That’s why you don’t need to install a JDK to create Java programs with Eclipse. Remark: Eclipse comes with its own Java compiler. The JDK includes the JRE, and also comes with Java’s source code. JDK: The “Java Development Kit” is required when you want to compile Java programs. You cannot, however, compile Java programs with just the JRE. JRE: The “Java Runtime Environment” is necessary to run Java application.When working with Java, you need to distinguish two Java software package types: That’s the “Java version” you need to know.
