You can leverage the java_home helper binary on OS X for what you're looking for.

To list all versions of installed JDK:

Copy$ /usr/libexec/java_home -V
Matching Java Virtual Machines (2):
    1.8.0_51, x86_64:   "Java SE 8" /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_51.jdk/Contents/Home
    1.7.0_79, x86_64:   "Java SE 7" /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.7.0_79.jdk/Contents/Home

To request the JAVA_HOME path of a specific JDK version, you can do:

Copy$ /usr/libexec/java_home -v 1.7
/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.7.0_79.jdk/Contents/Home

$ /usr/libexec/java_home -v 1.8
/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_51.jdk/Contents/Home

You could take advantage of the above commands in your script like this:

CopyREQUESTED_JAVA_VERSION="1.7"
if POSSIBLE_JAVA_HOME="$(/usr/libexec/java_home -v $REQUESTED_JAVA_VERSION 2>/dev/null)"; then
    # Do this if you want to export JAVA_HOME
    export JAVA_HOME="$POSSIBLE_JAVA_HOME"
    echo "Java SDK is installed"
else
    echo "Did not find any installed JDK for version $REQUESTED_JAVA_VERSION"
fi

You might be able to do if-else and check for multiple different versions of java as well.

If you prefer XML output, java_home also has a -X option to output in XML.

Copy$ /usr/libexec/java_home --help
Usage: java_home [options...]
    Returns the path to a Java home directory from the current user's settings.

Options:
    [-v/--version   <version>]       Filter Java versions in the "JVMVersion" form 1.X(+ or *).
    [-a/--arch      <architecture>]  Filter JVMs matching architecture (i386, x86_64, etc).
    [-d/--datamodel <datamodel>]     Filter JVMs capable of -d32 or -d64
    [-t/--task      <task>]          Use the JVM list for a specific task (Applets, WebStart, BundledApp, JNI, or CommandLine)
    [-F/--failfast]                  Fail when filters return no JVMs, do not continue with default.
    [   --exec      <command> ...]   Execute the $JAVA_HOME/bin/<command> with the remaining arguments.
    [-R/--request]                   Request installation of a Java Runtime if not installed.
    [-X/--xml]                       Print full JVM list and additional data as XML plist.
    [-V/--verbose]                   Print full JVM list with architectures.
    [-h/--help]                      This usage information.

This command should tell you what is currently providing the Java virtual machine (java) and the Java compiler (javac):

file /etc/alternatives/java /etc/alternatives/javac

This assumes the "alternatives" system is working properly, which might not be the case, depending on how Java has been "messed up" in the past. To check this, run:

file `which java javac`

If the alternatives system is working correctly and being used by Java, then you should see:

/usr/bin/java:  symbolic link to `/etc/alternatives/java'
/usr/bin/javac: symbolic link to `/etc/alternatives/javac'

Otherwise please edit your question to provide details. Then it should be possible to give a more specific answer.

You can remove openjdk-6 with the Software Center. There are multiple packages associated with it, so you may need to remove more than one packages. (All the `openjdk-6 packages are listed here.)

Or you can use the command-line:

sudo apt-get remove openjdk-6-\* icedtea-6-\*

However, whichever method you use, you may want to check first to see what depends on these packages--you might have software installed that specifically needs version 6. (Probably not, but possibly.)

You can check for this by simulating the removal operation on the command-line:

apt-get -s remove openjdk-6-\* icedtea-6-\*

This will show you the effects of removing those packages, including what other packages would be removed as well. (You'll notice that since this is a simulation, you don't need sudo.)

If you want to be able to continue using Java content online in your web browser (this is not the same thing as JavaScript), then before you remove any icedtea-6- or openjdk-6- packages (except perhaps openjdk-6-jdk), you should make sure you have icedtea-7- packages installed corresponding to whatever icedtea-6- packages are installed.

1. Open CMD (In Windows click Start then type cmd, Command Prompt or PowerShell) and execute the following commands.
2. For multiple java installations: wmic product where "name like 'Java%'" get name, version
3. For default java installation: java -version

This should work. This assumes it’s installed in a directory that’s included in $PATH which isn’t always the case with Java. Some programs ship with their own version of Java specific to their application so you’ll first have to determine where it’s installed.

java --version