Question

I need to work around a Java bug in JDK 1.5 which was fixed in 1.6. I’m using the following condition:

if (System.getProperty("java.version").startsWith("1.5.")) {
    ...
} else {
    ...
}

Will this work for other JVMs? Is there a better way to check this?

Answer 1

These articles seem to suggest that checking for 1.5 or 1.6 prefix should work, as it follows proper version naming convention.

Sun Technical Articles

• J2SE SDK/JRE Version String Naming Convention
• Version 1.5.0 or 5.0?
  • “J2SE also keeps the version number 1.5.0 (or 1.5) in some places that are visible only to developers, or where the version number is parsed by programs”
    • “java.version system property”
• Version 1.6.0 Used by Developers
  • “Java SE keeps the version number 1.6.0 (or 1.6) in some places that are visible only to developers, or where the version number is parsed by programs.”
    • “java.version system property”