How to work with different versions of Java

The future for Java is bright!

If you are coding in the JVM but the system you are working on was created using Java 11 or even 8 , and want to try out the new features of Java like:

• Local Variable Type Inference- Local Variable Type in Lambda Expressions
• Switch Expressions
• Text Blocks
• Pattern Matching of instanceof
• Records
• Sealed Classes

Maybe it's time to use SDKMAN, it allows you to switch from different Java versions in an easy way.

Install SDK

curl -s "https://get.sdkman.io" | bashsource "$HOME/.sdkman/bin/sdkman-init.sh"

Installing a specific version of Java

Then you can list all the available versions of Java

SDK will download and unzip the specified version of Java into a directory on your computer. Additionally, it will update
the environment variables. Easy peasy

sdk install java 19-amzn

Ready to use

java -version

Switching Java Versions

You can check the current installations with:

ls -l ~/.sdkman/candidates/java

Happy Coding. Its time to try the new Java features while you still contributing to your legacy Application

Then you should be able to use the Java version which allows you to work with the new features or legacy ones.

sdk use java <version>