Time to look beyond Oracle's JDK

From Java 11 its time to think beyond Oracle's JDK. Time to appreciate the depth of the ecosystem built on OpenJDK. Here is a list of some key OpenJDK builds.

This is a quick follow up to my recent zero-cost Java post

OpenJDK builds

In practical terms, there is only one set of source code for the JDK. The source code is hosted in Mercurial at OpenJDK.

Anyone can take that source code, produce a build and publish it on a URL. But there is a distinct certification process that should be used to ensure the build is valid.

Certification is run by the Java Community Process, which provides a Technology Compatibility Kit (TCK, sometimes referred to as the JCK). If an organization produces an OpenJDK build that passes the TCK then that build can be described as "Java SE compatible".

Note that the build cannot be referred to as "Java SE" without the vendor getting a commercial license from Oracle. For example, builds from AdoptOpenJDK that pass the TCK are not "Java SE", but "Java SE compatible" or "compatible with the Java SE specification". Note also that certification is currently on a trust-basis - the results are not submitted to the JCP/Oracle for checking and cannot be made public. See Volker's excellent comment for more details.

To summarise, the OpenJDK + Vendor process turns one sourcebase into many different builds.

In the process of turning the OpenJDK sourcebase into a build, the vendor may, or may not, add some additional branding or utilities, provided these do not prevent certification. For example, a vendor cannot add a new public method to an API, or a new language feature.

Oracle JDK

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/

From Java 11 this is a branded commercial build with paid-for support. It can be downloaded and used without cost only for development use. It cannot be used in production without paying Oracle (so it is a bit of a trap for the unwary). Oracle intends to provide full paid support until 2026 or later (details). Note that unlike in the past, the Oracle JDK is not "better" than the OpenJDK build (provided both are at the same security patch level). See here for more details of the small differences between Oracle JDK and the OpenJDk build by Oracle.

OpenJDK builds by Oracle

http://jdk.java.net/

These are $free pure unbranded builds of OpenJDK under the GPL license with Classpath Extension (safe for use in companies). These builds are only available for the first 6 months of a release. For Java 11, the expectation is there will be Java 11.0.0, then two security patches 11.0.1 and 11.0.2. To continue using the OpenJDK build by Oracle with security patches, you would have to move to Java 12 within one month of it being released. (Note that the provision of security patches is not the same as support. Support involves paying someone to triage and act upon your bug reports.)

Eclipse Temurin by Adoptium (formerly AdoptOpenJDK)

https://adoptium.net/

These are $free pure unbranded builds of OpenJDK under the GPL license with Classpath Extension. Unlike the OpenJDK builds by Oracle, these builds will continue for a much longer period for major releases like Java 11. The Java 11 builds will continue for 4 years, one year after the next major release (details). Adoptium is a project at Eclipse backed by some major industry companies. They will provide builds provided that other groups create and publish security patches in a source repository at OpenJDK.

Red Hat OpenJDK builds

Red Hat provides builds of OpenJDK via Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) which is a commercial product with paid-for support (details). They are very good at providing security patches back to OpenJDK, and Red Hat has run the security updates project of Java 6 and 7. The Red Hat build is integrated better into the operating system, so it is not a pure OpenJDK build (although you wouldn't notice the difference).

Other Linux OpenJDK builds

Different Linux distros have different ways to access OpenJDK. Here are some links for common distros: Debian, Fedora, Arch, Ubuntu.

Azul Zulu

https://www.azul.com/downloads/zulu/

Zulu is a branded build of OpenJDK with commercial paid-for support. In addition, Azul provides some Zulu builds for $free as "Zulu Community", however there are no specific commitments as to the availability of those $free builds. Azul has an extensive plan for supporting Zulu commercially, including plans to support Java 9, 13 and 15, unlike any other vendor (details).

Amazon Corretto

https://aws.amazon.com/corretto/

In preview from 2018-11-14, this is a zero-cost build of OpenJDK with long-term support that passes the TCK. It is under the standard GPL+CE license of all OpenJDK builds. Amazon will be adding their own patches and running Corretto on AWS, so it will be very widely used. Java 8 support will be until at least June 2023.

IBM Semeru (formerly AdoptOpenJDK OpenJ9 builds)

https://developer.ibm.com/languages/java/semeru-runtimes/

In addition to the standard OpenJDK builds, AdoptOpenJDK offered builds with OpenJ9 instead of HotSpot. OpenJ9 was originally IBM's JVM, but OpenJ9 is now Open Source at Eclipse. These builds are now avaialble from IBM directly. They also provide commercial paid-for support for the AdoptOpenJDK builds with OpenJ9.

SAP

https://sap.github.io/SapMachine/

SAP provides a JDK for Java 10 and later under the GPL+CE license. They also have a commercial closed-source JVM. Information on support lifetimes can be found here.

Liberica

https://bell-sw.com/java.html

Liberica from Bellsoft is a $free TCK verified OpenJDK distribution for x86, ARM32 and ARM64. Information on support can be found here.

ojdkbuild project

https://github.com/ojdkbuild/ojdkbuild

A community project sponsored by Red Hat that produces OpenJDK builds. They are the basis of Red Hat's Windows builds. The project has no customer support but does intend to provide builds so long as Red Hat supports a Java version. No information is provided about the TCK.

Others

There are undoubtedly other builds of OpenJDK, both commercial and $free. Please contact me if you'd like me to consider adding another section.

Summary

There are many different builds of OpenJDK, the original upstream source repository. Each build offers its own unique take - $free or commercial, branded or unbranded.

Choice is great. But if you just want the "standard", currently my best advice is to use the OpenJDK builds by Oracle, Adoptium builds or the one in your Operating System (Linux).