Compile and Run Java in Command Line with External Jars

Category: Basics >> Java   January 26, 2014

The following example shows how to compile and run Java program in command line mode with external jars. It is developed under Linux.

1. Compile & Run Java Program Without External Jar

Let's create a simple hello world program "helloworld.java".

public class helloworld{
        public static void main(String[] args){
                System.out.println("Hello!");
        }
}

Compile & Run

$ javac helloworld.java
$ java helloworld

Output 

Hello!

2. Compile & Run Java Program With External Jar

Now let's download a third-party library and use some method from the library. In this case, I downloaded apache.commons.lang from here, and use the StringUtils.capitalize() method. The jar file is downloaded to "jars" directory which is located the same with helloworld.java.

import org.apache.commons.lang3.*;
public class helloworld{
        public static void main(String[] args){
                String x = "abcd";
                System.out.println(StringUtils.capitalize(x));
        }
}

Compile & Run

$ javac -cp ".:./jars/common.jar" helloworld.java 
$ java -cp ".:./jars/common.jar" helloworld

Output:

Abcd

For Windows, ":" should be replaced with ";".

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Category >> Basics >> Java  
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  • Adnan

    If more than one jar files then what we do?

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  • Vishwas

    Though it is old post, this might help others.

    $ javac -cp “.:./jars/common.jar .:./jars/specific.jar” helloworld.java
    OR
    $ javac -cp jars/common.jar:jars/specific.jar helloworld.java

    For windows, semi colon should be used instead of colon.

  • meet sharma

    now suppose if we want to add multiple jars,then what will be the solution ??