How to Install Java on macOS Sierra or High Sierra

Java is a general purpose, secured, robust, object-oriented language developed by Sun Microsystems in 1990. Java is portable which means it follows to write once run anywhere paradigm. The latest version is Java 12 which was released in March 2019. This tutorial helps you to install Java 12 latest or Java 11 LTS on macOS Sierra or High Sierra.

Step 1 – Prerequisites

Before starting the installation of Java using this tutorial you must have the following prerequisites

• Terminal: You must have Mac Terminal access and little knowledge about working with the terminal application. Ao login to your Mac system and open terminal
• Homebrew: This tutorial relies on Homebrew, So you must have homebrew installed. Homebrew can be installed with a single command.

ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"

For more instruction visit Homebrew installation tutorial.

Step 2 – Install Homebrew Cask

On Mac systems, Homebrew is the package manager, and Homebrew Cask is the app manager built on top of Homebrew. You Execute command to update brew cache and tap the caskroom/cask.

brew update
brew tap caskroom/cask

Step 3 – Install JAVA with Homebrew Cask

At the time of writing this tutorial the available version, Java 11 LTS and Java 12 latest for the installation. Use the following commands to view the details about java versions to be install.

brew tap caskroom/versions
brew cask info java11              ## For Java 11 LTS 
brew cask info java                ## For Java 12 (latest version)

Now, install the Java version of your choice using one of the below commands. You can also install both versions if required.

brew cask install java11           ## Install Java 11 LTS 
brew cask install java             ## Install Java 12 (latest version)

I have installed Java 11 on my MacOS system. The download process may take some time to complete depending on your network speed. Once the installation finished, verify the installed Java version.

java -version

java version "11.0.2" 2019-01-15 LTS
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment 18.9 (build 11.0.2+9-LTS)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM 18.9 (build 11.0.2+9-LTS, mixed mode)

All done. Your Mac system has installed Java on it.