How to install a specific JDK on Mac OS X?

Question

I want to install a specific JDK (the latest for example). For this, I went to the JDK download homepage: http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp. I looked for a Mac

Answer 1

The explanation is that JDK is a bit specific and does not contain the library tools.jar. For my development, I need this library and Mac's JDK doesn't provide it:

(Cf. http://developer.apple.com/mac/library/documentation/Java/Conceptual/Java14Development/02-JavaDevTools/JavaDevTools.html)

tools.jar does not exist. Classes usually located here are instead included in classes.jar. Scripts that rely on the existence of tools.jar need to be rewritten accordingly.

It sucks!

Answer 2

Compiling with -source 1.5 -target 1.5 (in a JDK 6 environment) will honor only language elements that were in 1.5 and prior. Great. But there were no language changes in 6 anyway. Problem with this approach (on Mac with 1.6) is that using classes that came AFTER 1.5 will still compile because they exist in the rt.jar. So one could run in a 1.5 env and get a class not found exception with no prior warning when compiling. I found this out the hard way with javax.swing.event.RowSorterEvent/Listener. Both entered "Since 1.6" but are not caught with -source 1.5

Answer 3

Check this awesome tool sdkman to manage your jdk and other jdk related tools with great ease!

e.g.

$sdk list java
$sdk install java <VERSION>

Answer 4

I think this other Stack Overflow question could help:

How to get JDK 1.5 on Mac OS X

It basically says that if you need to compile or execute a Java application with an older version of the JDK (for example 1.4 or 1.5), you can do it using the 1.6 because it is backwards compatible. To do it so you will need to add the parameter -source 1.5 and/or -target 1.5 in the javac options or in your IDE.