Sams Teach Yourself Java 2 in 24 Hours

By Rogers Cadenhead

• Table of Contents
  • Copyright
  • About the Author
  • About the Technical Editor
  • Acknowledgments
  • We Want to Hear from You!
  • Reader Services
  • Introduction
  • Hour 1. Becoming a Programmer
  • Hour 2. Writing Your First Program
    • What You Need to Write Programs
    • Creating the Saluton Program
    • Beginning the Program
    • Storing Information in a Variable
    • Saving the Finished Product
    • Compiling the Program into a Class File
    • Fixing Errors
    • Workshop: Running a Java Program
    • Summary
    • Q&A
    • Quiz
    • Activities
  • Hour 3. Vacationing in Java
  • Hour 4. Understanding How Java Programs Work
  • Part II: Learning the Basics of Programming
  • Hour 5. Storing and Changing Information in a Program
  • Hour 6. Using Strings to Communicate
  • Hour 7. Using Conditional Tests to Make Decisions
  • Hour 8. Repeating an Action with Loops
  • Part III: Working with Information in New Ways
  • Hour 9. Storing Information with Arrays
  • Hour 10. Creating Your First Object
  • Hour 11. Describing What Your Object Is Like
  • Hour 12. Making the Most of Existing Objects
  • Part IV: Programming a Graphical User Interface
  • Hour 13. Building a Simple User Interface
  • Hour 14. Laying Out a User Interface
  • Hour 15. Responding to User Input
  • Hour 16. Building a Complex User Interface
  • Part V: Creating Multimedia Programs
  • Hour 17. Creating Interactive Web Programs
  • Hour 18. Handling Errors in a Program
  • Hour 19. Creating a Threaded Program
  • Hour 20. Reading and Writing Files
  • Part VI: Creating Multimedia Programs
  • Hour 21. Using Fonts and Color
  • Hour 22. Playing Sound Files
  • Hour 23. Working with Graphics
  • Hour 24. Creating Animation
  • Part VII: Appendixes
  • Appendix A. Tackling New Features of Java 2 Version 1.4
  • Appendix B. Using the Java 2 Software Development Kit
  • Appendix C. Programming with the Java 2 Software Development Kit
  • Appendix D. Using Sun ONE Studio
  • Appendix E. Where to Go from Here: Java Resources
  • Appendix F. This Book's Web Site

Workshop: Running a Java Program

To run the Java program you have just created, you must use a Java interpreter such as java, the command-line tool included with the Software Development Kit. An interpreter makes the computer follow the instructions you gave it when you wrote the program.

To run a Java program, the command java is followed by a space and the name of the class file that contains the program. Although the class file's name includes the .class extension, this part of the name must be left off when running the program with the Java interpreter.

To see whether the Saluton program does what you want, run the class. If you're using the kit, go to the folder that contains the Saluton.class file, and type the following at a command line:

java Saluton 

Even though the program's filename is Saluton.class, you don't include the file extension .class in the command.

When the program runs, it should state the following:

Saluton mondo! 

If you see this text, you have just written your first working Java program. Your computer has just greeted the world, a tradition in the field of computer programming that's as important to many of us as caffeine, short-sleeved dress shirts, and the Star Wars films.

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