How to set or change the default Java (JDK) version on OS X?

Question

How can you change the default version of Java on a mac?

Answer 1

install JDK, not just JRE

/usr/libexec/java_home -v 1.8

gives

/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_111.jdk/Contents/Home

next

touch .bash_profile

open -a TextEdit.app .bash_profile

TextEdit will show you a blank page which you can fill in.

add to doc: export JAVA_HOME=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_111.jdk/Contents/Home

in terminal:

export JAVA_HOME="$(/usr/libexec/java_home -v 1.8)"

try the command:

javac -version

should output:

javac 1.8.0_111