OpenJDK Downloads: FAQ
Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about OpenJDK downloads from OpenLogic.
These two terms are used fairly loosely and sometimes take on different meanings based on the context. However, in general, “Java” is a programming language. The JDK (Java Development Kit) is a software development and delivery platform that supports multiple programming languages.
The JDK is the platform for building and deploying Java applications. It is comprised of the JRE (Java Runtime Environment), the JVM (Java Virtual Machine), core class libraries, compilers, debuggers, and documentation.
The latest Java Development Kit is Java 17 / JDK 17. It was released in September, 2021. However, JDK 8 and JDK 11 are still widely used, as they are also designated long term support (LTS) versions of the product.
JDK is still free for general purpose use. However Oracle now charges for JDK commercial licenses.
OpenJDK 11 is free — and offers the exact same features as Java 11.
OpenJDK 8 is fully supported by OpenLogic.
Yes, you absolutely can use OpenJDK for commercial use.
OpenJDK is available for Windows. Simply follow the instructions above to get started on OpenJDK on Windows.
You can download Java JDK 8 and 11 by scrolling up on this page and selecting the version you need from OpenLogic.
Yes. Oracle uses the version string 1.8 to refer to Java 8.
There are always a lot of little things that go into a release of Java, or any product for that matter. However, the biggest differences between Java 8 and Java 11 are:
- The introduction of modularity in Java 11 to better support scaling down to small computing devices. Modularization also enables code to be refactored for easier maintenance, through a self-describing collection of code, data, and resources.
- A REPL (read-eval-print-loop) tool, JShell, was added to Java 11 support interactive programming, similar to what is available in Python. This is very interesting for serverless-compute and one-offs in Kubernetes
- A developer-friendly keyword “var” was added in Java 11 to help to reduce boilerplate coding. The “var” keyword only affects local variables, and the Type Inference keeps you repeating the same text over and over again
- Due to lack of browser support for Java plugins, the Applet API has been deprecated in Java 11
- Oracle has chosen the Eclipse Foundation as the new home for the Java Platform Enterprise Edition. As a result, those packages have moved, and this will require changes to package imports.
Scroll up and select JDK 8 for your platform to download the package from OpenLogic.
Scroll up and select Java 11 for your Windows to download the JDK package from OpenLogic.
Scroll up and select OpenJDK 11 for Linux to download the package from OpenLogic.