Java extension failed to activate, JDK not working in vscode

[JustinSucksAtCodingg]

I just downloaded vscode and I'm new to coding. I installed the extensions for java online before downloading vscode itself. I made a project and created a file inside. Visual studio code won't let me run or debug. It just keeps giving me the same exact error every single time. I already have a JDK downloaded, but it keeps giving me the error. I deleted and reinstalled the red hat JDK many times, but it won't work. I'm not sure if there is a step I'm missing out or something. I also deleted and reinstalled vscode to try to get it to work, but no luck. I looked at other forums, but I don't understand what they are saying. I don't really understand what is wrong. Could someone please help me?

[arithauth]

I am a beginner.

1. Open a new file to test with another workspace. Workspace can be buggy sometimes.

2. Make sure the JDK is properly installed. (JDK 21, which is not yet supported, cannot be used.)
   % java -version
   java version "20.0.2" 2023-07-18
   Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 20.0.2+9-78)
   Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 20.0.2+9-78, mixed mode, sharing)

3. If all goes well, this is not necessary, but try setting java.configuration.runtimes. You can get some information by searching "java.configuration.runtimes".

   setting like this:
   "java.configuration.runtimes": [
   {
   "name": "JavaSE-20",
   "path": "/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk-20.jdk"
   }
   ]

[rgrunber]

There's a few things to keep in mind.

• The extension requires a Java runtime (JRE), or a JDK to run and will attempt to locate it in common locations. The easiest way to check is if you can run java -version (as mentioned above), then it's on your PATH and will likely be found. It seems like your issue might be that you download a JDK and didn't place it in a common location, or add it to PATH / JAVA_HOME / etc. You can also use java.jdt.ls.home to set the path to the JDK. The extension does require Java 17 to run, but you can use any installed version from 1.5 to 20 for your project.
• If you install the extension from the "Extensions" tab in VS Code, it will detect your platform and install a version that comes pre-packaged with a JDK 17, so you won't even need to download a separate one (unless your projects have separate requirements). See https://github.com/redhat-developer/vscode-java#quick-start .

Now that I think of it, maybe we should update the README to be more specific about installing from a marketplace, rather than just downloading a vsix (universal) separately, which is what I suspect you tried to do.