Manage your SDKs like a pro

For anyone setting up Java, Kotlin, or Spring SDKs manually, the process of tweaking environment variables like HOME and PATH might feel cumbersome. Fortunately, there’s a much simpler solution: SDKMAN!.

I’ve been happily using SDKMAN! for a while, and it has made managing SDKs a breeze. With SDKMAN!, installing Java, changing the default Kotlin version, or updating to the latest Spring Boot version is a one-liner.

Installing SDKMAN!

Getting SDKMAN! up and running on a UNIX-based system is straightforward. It supports macOS, Linux, and even Windows ( via WSL). Plus, it’s compatible with both Bash and ZSH shells.

To get started, open a new terminal and run the following command:

curl -s “https://get.sdkman.io” | bash

Once the installation is complete, run the following in the same or a new terminal session:

source “$HOME/.sdkman/bin/sdkman-init.sh”

Managing SDKs

Now, you can install the latest stable version of your preferred SDK (say, Java) by running the following command:

sdk install java

It will prompt you to set this version as the default, and just like that—no need to fiddle with HOME or PATH variables.

Listing available versions

Want to see all available versions of a specific SDK, like Kotlin? It’s just as easy:

sdk list kotlin

This command will display a list of all available, local, installed, and currently in-use versions of Kotlin.

================================================================================
Available Kotlin Versions
================================================================================
 > * 2.0.20              1.5.21              1.3.10              1.1.4          
     2.0.10              1.5.10              1.3.0               1.1.3-2        
     2.0.0               1.5.0               1.2.71              1.1.3          
     1.9.24              1.4.31              1.2.70              1.1.2-5        
     1.9.23              1.4.30              1.2.61              1.1.2-2        
     1.9.22              1.4.21              1.2.60              1.1.2          
     1.9.21              1.4.20              1.2.51              1.1.1          
     1.9.20              1.4.10              1.2.50              1.1            
     1.9.10              1.4.0               1.2.41              1.0.7          
     1.9.0               1.3.72              1.2.40              1.0.6          
     1.8.20              1.3.71              1.2.31              1.0.5-2        
     1.8.0               1.3.70              1.2.30              1.0.5          
     1.7.21              1.3.61              1.2.21              1.0.4          
     1.7.20              1.3.60              1.2.20              1.0.3          
     1.7.10              1.3.50              1.2.10              1.0.2          
     1.7.0               1.3.41              1.2.0               1.0.1-2        
     1.6.21              1.3.40              1.1.61              1.0.1-1        
     1.6.20              1.3.31              1.1.60              1.0.1          
     1.6.10              1.3.30              1.1.51              1.0.0          
     1.6.0               1.3.21              1.1.50                             
     1.5.31              1.3.20              1.1.4-3                            
     1.5.30              1.3.11              1.1.4-2                            

================================================================================
+ - local version
* - installed
> - currently in use
================================================================================

Changing the default

Need to switch to a different version? No problem. To set Kotlin 2.0.0 as the default, just run:

sdk default kotlin 2.0.0

Additional features

SDKMAN! also includes a variety of useful features, such as offline mode, self-update, and the ability to set SDK versions on a per-project basis. It’s a handy tool that saves time and effort—give it a try and simplify your SDK management!