[Chapter 1] 1.3 Compiling a Java Source File
Author: Mark Grand
Date: Thu Jul 31 13:05:18 1997

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| Chapter 1 Introduction |

## 1.3 Compiling a Java Source File

The interface for the Java compiler in Sun's Java Development Kit (JDK) is the command line. To compile a Java program, run the program javac with the name of the source file specified as a command-line argument. For example, to compile the "Hello World" program, issue the following command:

    C:\> javac HelloWorld.java

The Java compiler, javac, requires that the name of a Java source file end with a .java extension. If the source file contains a class or interface that is declared with the keyword `public`, the filename must be the name of that class or interface. There can be at most one such class or interface in a source file.

In an environment such as Windows 95 that does not distinguish between uppercase and lowercase letters in a filename, you still need to be sure that the case of the filename exactly matches the case used in the `public` class or interface declaration. If you use a filename with the incorrect case, the compiler will be able to compile the file but it will complain about an incorrect filename.

The compiler produces a compiled class file with the same name as the `public` class or interface declaration; the file extension used for a compiled Java file is .class.

If the javac compiler complains that it is unable to find some classes, it may mean that an environment variable named `CLASSPATH` has not been set properly. The exact setting needed for `CLASSPATH` varies depending on the operating system and its directory structure. However, the value of `CLASSPATH` always specifies a list of directories in which the compiler should search for Java classes.

New Language Features in Java 1.1 |  | Running a Java Application