ArtiSynth Installation Guide for Windows

4 Java JDK Requirements

ArtiSynth requires that you have a full 64-bit Java development kit (JDK) installed. A JDK comes with a Java compiler, whereas the simpler Java run time environment (JRE) does not.

Important: on ARM-based machines, you must still install a 64-bit Intel-based JDK which must then execute through an Intel compatibility layer. Invocation of the compatibility layer should generally be invisible to the user. 64-bit Intel-based JDKs contain the string x64 in their download names, whereas ARM-based JDKs contain aarch64 or arm32.

You will require JDK version 8 or higher. The most recent JDK with long term support is version 21. If you are planning to use ArtiSynth with MATLAB, there are restrictions on which JDK you can use, as described in the guide Interfacing ArtiSynth to MATLAB.

If you need a JDK, we recommend installing one from Oracle. At the time of this writing, the download page is at:

Download tabs for JDK 22, 21 and 17 are located near the top. Tabs for downloading JDK 8 and 11 are located further down the page. Downloads are available for all systems (Linux, macOS and Windows); be sure to choose the link appropriate to yours. For Windows, the easiest option may be to choose “x64 Installer”.

4.1 Ensuring the JDK is visible to your system

After the JDK has been installed, it is important to ensure that it is visible to your system and that it supersedes any other Java installations. One test for this is to open a CMD window and run the command

 > javac -version

The output should match the version of the installed JDK. If it does not, or if the command javac is not found, then one fix is to add the folder <JDK_HOME>\bin to your system Path, as described in Section 14.1, where <JDK_HOME> is the JDK installation directory. On Windows, your JDK is likely to be installed under Program Files\Java. For example, if your JDK is 21, then <JDK_HOME> will likely be

  C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-21

JDK 8 is named a little differently, and is likely to be located in

  C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-1.8

When adding <JDK_HOME>\bin to your Path, it should be added ahead of any other Java installations that might be specified. To see the current contents of the Path, open a CMD window and run the command

 > echo %PATH%

If you are using an integrated development environment (IDE), such as Eclipse (Section 13), for compiling and running ArtiSynth programs, you should also ensure that this IDE is configured to use the installed JDK. Instructions on how to do this for Eclipse are given in Section 13.1.1.