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javamacosfirebase-tools

Firebase Tools and Java 11

This question falls somewhere between Firebase Tools, MacOS and Java. Probably 75% Java, 20% Firebase Tools and 5% MacOS.

Starting with v10.5, firebase-tools started stating that 'Support for Java version <= 10 will be dropped soon in firebase-tools@11. Please upgrade to Java version 11 or above to continue using the emulators.'

I run macOS v11.6.5 on a Macbook Pro from mid-2014. When I go to Java's Downloads page, it recommends Java 'Version 8 Update 331'. Not Java 11.

Information on downloading Java 11 seems to be scarce. Oracle's page of certified configurations includes MacOS 11, but I can't find anywhere obvious where Java 11 can be readily downloaded.

A big part of the problem seems to be the terminology used. If I run java -version, I get:

java version "1.8.0_331"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_331-b09)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.331-b09, mixed mode)

Okay, I have build 1.8 of the Java Runtime Environment, aka the JRE if you are a Java enthusiast. That is apparently what is triggering the warning in Firebase Tools.

There is also a Java product out there called 'Java SE 11'. The product itself is ambiguous, but the checksums all say 'SDK'. (A Software Development Kit: a thing that enables developers to develop Java programs. The name doesn't imply a Runtime Environment: a thing that enables Java to run on an operating system.) There is an article out there which claims that, if you install Java SE 11 and run java -version, it will spit out java version "11.0.7". That will probably satisfy Firebase Tools.

But Oracle's release notes say: 'In Windows and macOS, installing the JDK in previous releases optionally installed a JRE. In JDK 11, this is no longer an option.' No longer an option... as in now you implicitly get JRE 11 with SDK 11? Or as in the SDK and JRE are now fully divorced, and the JRE must be ferreted out of its hiding like a wild beast?

UPDATE 6/5/22: Java's checksums page now says 'JDK', and I guess that is better than 'SDK' because it implies 'Java Development Kit', which this Wikipedia article claims to include both a JRE ('java') and SDK (most of the other files).

Solution

  • To install Java SE:

    Go here.

    1. Scroll down to find your product. I chose Java SE 11. (Oracle will probably list later versions as they are made available.)
    2. Choose your operating system. I chose MacOS.
    3. Choose your file set. I chose the DMG installer.
    4. Download your chosen file set.

    Illustration 5. Do whatever is required by your platform to install Java SE using the downloaded file set from #5.

    After installing Java SE 11, java -version now says "11.0.14" and Firebase Tools is now satisfied. My best guess is that JRE 11 was implicitly downloaded, and that developers need to start ignoring the main Download page used by everyone else. (Why didn't the main Download page recommend Java 11 from the start?) Hopefully someone will see this question and clarify whether in the future, the 'Java SE' product implicitly includes both the JRE and SDK, and that the numbering system will always encompass both. In other words, hopefully when someone says we need 'Java 11', it means that we need to download SE 11, containing JRE 11 and SDK 11.