java -version and javac -version showing different versions

Question

I have java 7 and java 8 both installed on my windows system under C:Program FilesJava

In the environment's path I specified the path of java 7 like this.

%JAVA_HOME%/bin where JAVA_HOME = C:Program FilesJavajdk1.7.0_17

But when I type javac -version it shows javac 1.7.0_17 which makes sense

but when I do java -version it shows

java version "1.8.0"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0-b132)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.0-b70, mixed mode)

Any idea what may be the problem here?

Edit The installed folder :

And one more thing echo %PATH% has only one occurence of JDK that is for java 7 and no occurence for JRE found in it.

Answer 1

The issue is occuring most probably because you have a JRE in your PATH, before your JDK. This usually happens when we add JDK in the PATH and do not remove previously added JREs. Thus when you do java it points to the JRE and when you do javac it points to the other version/JDK (since the JRE does not have a javac in it)

If you don't have any JREs in your path, then you can copy your %JAVA_HOME% and paste it first in your path variable (make sure its before the system32 path).

A possible reason for why this works is explained in this answer:

JRE also puts a java.exe to c:WindowsSystem32, that's how first command is resolved. Second command is resolved by the C:Program FilesJavajdk1.7.0_02in entry in your PATH variable. If (and when) you are developing from the command prompt, you have to adjust the PATH variable so that C:Program FilesJavajdk1.7.0_02in is before c:WindowsSystem32.