Installing and configuring IntelliJ IDEA, JDK 25

1. What is the JDK (Java Development Kit)

JDK — it’s like a Swiss Army knife for a Java developer. It includes everything you need to create, compile, and run Java programs:

JDK contains JRE + tools for Java developers.

JRE contains JVM + a set of standard Java libraries.

JVM — this is the Java virtual machine.

Why is it important to use a current JDK version (for example, Java 25)?
Java evolves very quickly. New releases bring not only new features but also improve security, performance, and compatibility with modern libraries. If you study on Java 8, you risk ending up like a dinosaur that suddenly met an iPhone.

2. Downloading and installing the JDK

There are several official sources:

• Oracle JDK
• OpenJDK
• Amazon Corretto
• Adoptium Temurin

Within our course we won’t download the JDK in advance. We’ll delegate this task to IntelliJ IDEA and install the JDK right from its interface in two clicks.

Although the installation will be automated, IntelliJ IDEA will still ask which distribution we prefer. For our course we will choose Amazon Corretto. It’s a free build that doesn’t require registration, is reliably supported by Amazon, and, importantly, works correctly if the installation path contains Cyrillic characters.

3. Downloading and installing IntelliJ IDEA

JetBrains official site:
https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/download/

On the download page, the site will automatically detect your OS and CPU architecture. You can choose it manually if necessary.

Previously, developers had to choose between the paid (Ultimate) and free (Community Edition) versions, but starting with version 2025.3, IntelliJ IDEA has become a single product.

Now everything is simple: you download one program where everything necessary for Java development is available for free and without restrictions. If you require features from the paid set (Ultimate), you can enable it directly inside (there is a 30-day trial period), but for our course, there is absolutely no need for this.

Bonus! In the new unified version, even features that were previously only in Ultimate are now available for free. Now database tools and basic Spring support are open to you without any extra payments.

Installing IntelliJ IDEA on Windows

1. Download the .exe installer from the site. Important: choose your CPU architecture.
2. Run the file and choose an installation folder.
3. At the components step, you can add a desktop shortcut and associate .java files)
4. Wait for the installation to finish and launch IDEA.

Installing IntelliJ IDEA on macOS

1. Download the .dmg file. Important: choose your CPU architecture — Intel or Apple Silicon.
2. Open it and drag the IntelliJ IDEA icon into the Applications folder.
3. Launch IDEA

Installing IntelliJ IDEA on Linux

1. Download the .tar.gz archive.
2. Extract the archive to a convenient location, for example, ~/programs/idea.
3. Go to the bin folder and run the script: ./idea.sh
4. For convenience, you can create a shortcut on the desktop or in the applications menu.

4. Launching IntelliJ IDEA

After installation, IntelliJ IDEA will suggest importing settings from previous versions. If you’re a beginner — choose Skip import.

Projects tab

After that you will see IntelliJ IDEA’s welcome screen.

• New Project is used to create a new project from scratch.
• Open lets you open a project that already exists on your computer.
• Clone Repository (or Get from VCS) lets you clone a project from a remote repository, for example, from GitHub.

Customize tab

Here you can configure the IDE so that it’s as comfortable as possible for you to work in.

• Theme: allows you to choose a color scheme. Choose one that makes your eyes strain less.
• IDE font: lets you change the UI font size.
• Language: leave English. All technical documentation and forums are in English.

So, we’ve set up the look and feel and gone over the basic actions. Now we’re ready to create our first project.