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

JDK Switch Script

I have adapted the answer from @Alex above and wrote the following to fix the code for Java 9.

$ cat ~/.jdk
#!/bin/bash

#list available jdks
alias jdks="/usr/libexec/java_home -V"
# jdk version switching - e.g. `jdk 6` will switch to version 1.6
function jdk() {
  echo "Switching java version $1";

  requestedVersion=$1
  oldStyleVersion=8
  # Set the version
  if [ $requestedVersion -gt $oldStyleVersion ]; then
    export JAVA_HOME=$(/usr/libexec/java_home -v $1);
  else
    export JAVA_HOME=`/usr/libexec/java_home -v 1.$1`;
  fi

  echo "Setting JAVA_HOME=$JAVA_HOME"

  which java
  java -version;
}

Switch to Java 8

$ jdk 8
Switching java version 8
Setting JAVA_HOME=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_131.jdk/Contents/Home
/usr/bin/java
java version "1.8.0_131"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_131-b11)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.131-b11, mixed mode)

Switch to Java 9

$ jdk 9
Switching java version 9
Setting JAVA_HOME=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk-9.0.1.jdk/Contents/Home
/usr/bin/java
java version "9.0.1"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 9.0.1+11)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 9.0.1+11, mixed mode)