Setting up Testcontainers takes about five minutes. The dependencies are on Maven Central, the BOM manages all version alignment, and Spring Boot 3 has first-class support that eliminates most of the configuration boilerplate. By the end of this article, you will have a Spring Boot project with Testcontainers running, a PostgreSQL container backing your first integration test, and a clear understanding of how to add any additional container module. What You’ll Learn How the Testcontainers BOM works and why you need it Which dependencies to add for Spring Boot, PostgreSQL, and JUnit 5 How to configure Maven and Gradle for Testcontainers tests How to set up Logback so you can see container startup logs How @ServiceConnection eliminates @DynamicPropertySource boilerplate in Spring Boot 3.

Installing Java 25 Option 1: SDKMAN! (Recommended) SDKMAN! is the easiest way to install and switch between Java versions on macOS and Linux. # Install SDKMAN! if you don't have it curl -s "https://get.sdkman.io" | bash source "$HOME/.sdkman/bin/sdkman-init.sh" # List available Java 25 distributions sdk list java | grep "25" # Install Eclipse Temurin 25 (open-source, most common) sdk install java 25-tem # Set as default globally sdk default java 25-tem # Verify java -version # openjdk version "25" 2025-09-16 Switch between versions per project:

Choosing a JDK Distribution Java 11 is available from multiple OpenJDK distributions. All are TCK-certified and binary-compatible; the differences are support timelines and add-ons. Distribution Vendor Java 11 Support Until Notes Eclipse Temurin Adoptium Oct 2027 Community standard, most downloaded Amazon Corretto Amazon Aug 2024 (free), extended via AWS Best choice for AWS workloads Azul Zulu Azul Systems 2026+ Wide platform coverage Microsoft Build of OpenJDK Microsoft 2024 Best for Azure Oracle JDK 11 Oracle Oct 2024 (free LTS) Commercial support until 2026 GraalVM CE 21 Oracle/GraalVM Community Native image + polyglot; JDK 21-based For most teams: Eclipse Temurin 11 — widest platform support, longest free support window, backed by a vendor-neutral foundation.

JDK Distribution Options Multiple vendors ship Java 17 JDK builds. All pass the TCK (Technology Compatibility Kit) — they are functionally equivalent for development. Distribution Provider Notes Eclipse Temurin Adoptium / Eclipse Recommended default; fully open-source Amazon Corretto AWS Free; optimized for AWS Lambda and EC2 Microsoft Build of OpenJDK Microsoft Windows and Azure optimized Oracle JDK 17 Oracle Free for development; commercial license for production Azul Zulu Azul Commercial support available; free binaries GraalVM CE 22.

Choosing a JDK Distribution Java 21 is open source (OpenJDK). Multiple vendors distribute binaries, all built from the same source with identical features. Choose based on your support requirements: Distribution Vendor Free LTS Support Notes Eclipse Temurin Adoptium Yes 2028+ Recommended for most developers OpenJDK Oracle/Community Yes 6 months only Reference implementation, no LTS Oracle JDK Oracle Yes (NFTC) 2031 Identical to OpenJDK since Java 17 Amazon Corretto AWS Yes 2030+ Good for AWS deployments Microsoft Build of OpenJDK Microsoft Yes Long-term Good for Azure deployments Azul Zulu Azul Yes/Paid Long-term Includes Zing JVM variant GraalVM Oracle Yes Long-term Adds native-image, polyglot Recommendation: Eclipse Temurin for local development; match your cloud provider’s JDK for production (Corretto on AWS, Microsoft OpenJDK on Azure).

Choosing a Java 8 Distribution Getting your environment right before writing a single line of code saves hours of debugging compiler errors and version conflicts later. This article covers every distribution option, all three major build tools, and both popular IDEs — including the specific settings that trip up most developers when first configuring Java 8. Oracle stopped providing free Java 8 updates for commercial use in January 2019. Multiple vendors now ship free, production-quality Java 8 builds: