(beam) branch master updated: docs: Clarify JAVA_HOME setup and initial build expectations for all OSes (#37415)

[ke...@apache.org]

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kenn pushed a commit to branch master
in repository https://gitbox.apache.org/repos/asf/beam.git


The following commit(s) were added to refs/heads/master by this push:
     new 87d7bba644f docs: Clarify JAVA_HOME setup and initial build expectations for all OSes (#37415)
87d7bba644f is described below

commit 87d7bba644fd594fadc1b22ebc970f3ce80e9bcb
Author: Esmelealem <em...@gmail.com>
AuthorDate: Thu Mar 12 10:38:02 2026 -0400

    docs: Clarify JAVA_HOME setup and initial build expectations for all OSes (#37415)
---
 CONTRIBUTING.md | 5 +++++
 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+)

diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index bdd48e829ca..03be20b6634 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -41,6 +41,11 @@ These steps and instructions on getting started are outlined below as well.
 - A [GitHub](https://github.com/) account.
 - A Linux, macOS, or Microsoft Windows development environment.
 - Java JDK 11 (preferred, or 8, 17, 21) installed.
+  - General note:
+    - Set `JAVA_HOME` to the JDK **installation directory**, not the `bin` directory
+    - (Window for example: `C:\Program Files\Eclipse Adoptium\jdk-11.x.x`)
+    - If multiple JDK versions are installed, ensure Java 11 appears first on `PATH`
+    - The initial Gradle build may take 10–15 minutes due to dependency downloads
 - Latest [Go](https://golang.org) 1.x installed.
 - [Docker](https://www.docker.com/) installed for some tasks including building worker containers and testing changes to this website locally.
 - For SDK Development: