How to setup libraries for IntelliJ 13 on Mac with JDK 1.8

Question

I recently installed the Java 1.8 Update 20 JRE on my Mac running OSX 10.9.4. After that, I also added the JDK of 1.8.0_20. When I go into Terminal and execute "java -version" or "javac -version", each time I get "1.8.0_20" as a result. For me, this means that both JRE and JDK 1.8 are the System standard right now (I might be wrong on this).

So, I also add IntelliJ IDEA 13.1 and open it. I logged into GitHub using my credentials and it worked. So from the launcher window, I proceed Configure → Project Defaults → Project Structure. From here I firstly click the "New" button next to "No SDK" and select JDK. It automatically brings me to /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_20.jdk/Contents/Home. Just to make sure I select the JDK itself, I back off into ~/JavaVirtualMachines/ and select the jdk1.8.0_20.jdk, hitting return. This is now recognized as "1.8" in IntelliJ.

On the left hand side, I now go to Libraries and hit the "+" sign. This also automatically brings me to /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_20.jdk/Contents/Home/jre/lib. I know that it has to add all the .jar files in this folder, so I highlight using SHIFT + CLICK the entire contents of the folder and click "Ok". This is now library "ext" (don't know where that name comes from). I click Apply and Ok and go back to the Quick Start menu.

Selecting "Create New Project", I leave the template for Java and see that the Project SDK has been set as 1.8 (Java version "1.8.0_20"). Underneath it gives me the option to tick for "Groovy" (again, no idea what that is) and lastly, the library... Only that the line "Use library:" returns "[No library specified]". Even when I tick Groovy and the library field becomes clickable, it still does not find the before-created Java library. Nevermind that, I untick Groovy and go to write some simple Java code: Under the project name, in its src folder, I create a class and write:

public class main {

    public static void main (String[] args){

        System.out.println("Hello World!");

    }

}

When I try to run the code, the button for it is greyed out. I have been searching the SO forum for a while, but it doesn't seem that anyone on JDK8 and IntelliJ 13 had this exact problem. Any ideas?

I don't know about the mac, but what it a difference between this and how you add the jdk on e.g. linux is, that you only pick the root directory and Idea will setup the JDK libs for you properly. And for a groovy project you also need groovy installed. But you are better off starting with a gradle project there. Also is this Ultimate or Community Edition of Idea? — cfrick
It's the community edition that I'm using. And yes, I thought it should do that too! But for some reason it doesn't seem to recognize my JDK 1.8 correctly. Which actually brings me to another detail, which is that when I installed the JDK, it was all in Japanese? Apart from "continue" and "back", the entire installer was written in Japanese. — Synaxr

Synaxr Synaxr · Accepted Answer · 2014-09-07T19:37:29

Okay, I figured this out: Removed JDK 1.8 with its JRE for purpose of a clean install down the line.

Went into Eclipse and tried to run the same code with no trouble. So I opened IDEA and removed the JDK and lib that I added manually. Then, I inserted back the 1.7 JDK and left it as such. Opened a black project and did not tick Groovy or the library option. For some reason, IDEA now reads the JDK internal Lib and includes it in the project. Created a new "main" class and wrote the same code as above. Then I checked the run options and although 1 was greyed out, the other worked.

From then on I installed JDK 1.8 again and tried the same, everything works just fine now.

How to setup libraries for IntelliJ 13 on Mac with JDK 1.8

1 Answers