You shouldn't need asdf to work with JVM stuff. I would suggest learning how to use SDKMAN: https://sdkman.io/

It will manage the JDK for you. Usage is basically this:

   # Install a JDK, that version is now default
   sdk install java <version>
   # Another one, it asks if you want to change the default
   sdk install java <another-version>
   # List available and installed versions
   sdk list java
   # Change which one you're using in this shell
   sdk use java <version>

That's all.

You can also manage Gradle/Maven installations with SDKMAN, but that's not necessary, usually, because most JVM projects include a "wrapper" script which downloads the needed Maven/Gradle version for you.

This works regardless of whether your project also needs Kotlin/Groovy etc. as those are just managed by Gradle/Maven (the only exception I can think of is if you use Kotlin Multiplatform as that will depend on the platform dependencies as well).

So once you know SDKMAN, you can manage any JVM-based project with just this:

    sdk use java <jdk-version-used-by-project>
    ./gradlew build # or ./mvnw package

If you need to do anything else, you should complain to the project authors as this is really all you should need!