Why is java -version implemented in Java?

[Alan Bateman]

On 20/11/2020 16:22, Thomas Stüfe wrote:
> Hi,
>
> java -version seems to be called by scripts very frequently to get the java
> version. Folks complain about the time that takes.
>
> I always wondered, why is this implemented in java? Which requires the
> whole jvm machinery to start up just to print the version information.
>
> VersionProps.java seems not to be very complex; that information could have
> been baked into the launcher, or the hotspot.
>
> Or is using 'java -version' as a simple VM test just too convenient?
>
The alternative to scripts running `java -version` is to examine the 
`release` file in the top-level directory. Could the scripts that you've 
encountered be changed to look at that instead?

-Alan