Why is -server option there when server VM is the default option?

Question

The help menu for java command says that -server option is to select the \"server\" VM. It also states that \'server\' is the default option. Why s

Answer 1

The -server mode might be default in most JVM versions but there are exceptions. As per Where do I get the server and client systems? docs:

Client and server systems are both downloaded with the 32-bit Solaris and Linux downloads. For 32-bit Windows, if you download the JRE, you get only the client, you'll need to download the SDK to get both systems.

For 64-bit, only the server system is included. On Solaris, the 64-bit JRE is an overlay on top of the 32-bit distribution. However, on Linux and Windows, it's a completely separate distribution.

At the end of the day you can use -client to switch back to client mode and sacrifice JIT optimization for faster startup time.