Question

I need two versions of Java ie. Java5 and Java6 on the same machine, as some of my projects support Java6 and some supports Java5. So I made it by putting the path of Java6 in JAVA_HOME and Java5 in JAVA5_HOME. I added both the JAVA_HOMEs in the PATH variable.

But when I do java -version, then by default I am getting the following result

java version "1.6.0"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0-b105)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.6.0-b105, mixed mode, sharing)


Is it possible to get Java5 also along with Java6??

Also I would like to know that, is it possible to configure maven2 with two versions of Java (Java1.6 & Java1.5) and use the required version for building the project in the run time?

Answer 1

So I made it by putting the path of Java6 in JAVA_HOME and Java5 in JAVA5_HOME. I added both the JAVA_HOMEs in the PATH variable.

Not really a good idea (and one of them will be first on the path anyway). You should add JAVA_HOME only and make it point to the JDK you want to use (and switch on demand).

Also I would like to know that, is it possible to configure maven2 with two versions of Java (Java1.6 & Java1.5) and use the required version for building the project in the run time?

No. Maven uses JAVA_HOME, you can only use one JDK at a time.

If you want to build the same project with 2 different JDKs, your best option would be to use a CI engine like Hudson and to setup a build matrix.