Differences between Oracle JDK and OpenJDK

Question

NOTE: This question is from 2014. As of Java 11 OpenJDK and Oracle JDK are converging.

Are there any crucial differences between Oracle and OpenJDK?

For example, are the garbage collection and other JVM parameters the same?

Does GC work differently between the two?

Answer 1

The basic difference between the two are-

1. Oracle JDK delivers release every 3 years, whereas OpenJDK releases every 6 months.

2. Both of their licenses are different,Oracle JDK was licensed under Oracle Binary Code License Agreement, whereas OpenJDK has the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL) version 2 with a linking exception.

3. The build process of Oracle JDK is same as that of OpenJDK, but Oracle’s performance is much better in terms of responsiveness than JDK.

4. They have their own unique features.  Oracle has Flight Recorder, Java Mission Control, and Application Class-Data Sharing, while OpenJDK has features like Font Renderer.

5. Oracle JDK is completely  developed by the Oracle Corporation whereas the developers for  OpenJDK are Oracle, OpenJDK, and the Java Community.