Installing Programming Languages

Note

Prerequisites Homebrew installation must be completed.

Advice on Java Installation

Info

IntelliJ IDEA Manages JDKs Automatically IntelliJ IDEA downloads and manages the required JDK for each project. Since IntelliJ handles everything automatically without needing Java installed system-wide, delay installation unless absolutely necessary.

When Should You Install Java on Your System?

System-wide Java is only needed in these cases:

When using the java command directly in terminal
When running Java applications without IntelliJ
When Java is needed in CI/CD pipelines

How to Install Java 21 OpenJDK

If you really need it, you can easily install with Homebrew.

Open Terminal and copy-paste the following command:

(brew install openjdk@21 || true)

[!IMPORTANT] DO NOT Set JAVA_HOME Homebrew manages PATH automatically. There's no need to add export JAVA_HOME=... to .zshrc like in the old ways.

Verify Installation

After installation, check if Java is working properly.

Open Terminal and copy-paste the following command:

java --version

If you see a message similar to this, it's successful:

openjdk 21.x.x 2024-xx-xx
OpenJDK Runtime Environment Homebrew (build 21.x.x)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM Homebrew (build 21.x.x, mixed mode, sharing)

[!TIP] IntelliJ IDEA automatically recognizes JDKs installed on your system. Just select from the list when creating a project.

Next Steps

All necessary tools are ready! Learn some tips for using macOS more efficiently.

Next Step: macOS Tips Collection