Java Packages Tutorial

Prerequisites

This tutorial assumes that the reader has a knowledge of basic Unix commands and experience working with a command-line text editor (e.g. emacs, vi, etc.). To get the most out of this tutorial, you should follow along, take notes, execute any given commands, run any code examples, repeat as necessary. Simply reading (or skimming) is not sufficient for learning this material.

Course-Specific Learning Outcomes

LO1.a: Navigate and modify files, directories, and permissions in a multi-user Unix-like environment.
LO1.c: Create and modify textfiles and source code using a powerful terminal-based text editor such as Emacs or Vi.
LO1.d: Use shell commands to compile new and existing software solutions that are organized into multi-level packages and have external dependencies.

Java Packages

In Java, a package is a grouping of related types providing access protection and name space management. Note that types refers to classes, interfaces, enumerations, and annotation types [1]. The two primary benefits of packages are:

Name Space Management: Packages allow you to give a common name to a group of related types. For example, java.util.Scanner and java.util.Random are two utility classes provided in the java.util package. You and other programmers can easily determine that these types are related.
Access Protection: Visibility in Java is not limited to public and private. Packages and additional visibility modifiers enable programmers to declare things as visible only within a package.

In this tutorial, you will create multiple classes, group them into a package, then compile and run them. The expectation is that you will follow along with this tutorial in a terminal emulator on Odin or some Unix machine. You should ask questions on Piazza if you are unable to proceed or if some aspect of the tutorial is particularly confusing.

Setting up for a Package

Create a directory for this tutorial called cs1302-packages and change into it:
```
$ mkdir cs1302-packages
$ cd cs1302-packages
```
Setup the following subdirectory structure for the cs1302.hello package under a new subdirectory called src:
```
cs1302-packages
 |--- bin
 |--- src
       |--- cs1302
             |--- hello
```
Here is a breakdown of the different subdirectories and the roles that they play:
- bin is the default (no-name) package directory for our compiled code;
- src is the default (no-name) package directory for our source code;
- cs1302 is the cs1302 package directory; and
- hello is the cs1302.hello package directory.

Default Package

Here, the src directory is the location of the default package (proper noun) for source code. The default package contains classes (and other types) that are not in a named package. When developing small or temporary applications, it is a convenient place for package-less .java files [2]. The default package location for source code also serves as the base directory for named packages that you will create.

Let's dive in! The steps below show you how to create, compile, and execute a class in the default package (i.e., a class in a package-less .java file). Once you are comfortable with that, move on to the next section to learn about named packages.

Using Emacs, create a basic "Hello, World!" program in a driver class called HelloWorld in the default package directory for source code (the src directory). For example, the contents of the HelloWorld.java file might be:
```
public class HelloWorld {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        System.out.println("Hello, World!");
    } // main
} // HelloWorld
```
Change directly into the default package directory (src) and compile the program using javac:
```
$ javac HelloWorld.java
```
List the contents of the directory with ls to verify that HelloWorld.class was created.
Run the program using java:
```
$ java HelloWorld
```
Note that the java command takes the name of the class itself and not the name of the .class file.
When executing the java command, Java assumes that the current working directory is the location of the default package. If that is not the case, then you must specify it using a command line option called -cp for class path. As its name suggests, the class path is the path to the default package for classes.

Change back into the cs1302-packages directory and try to execute your program with the following command:
```
$ java HelloWorld
```
You should get the following error:
```
Error: Could not find or load main class HelloWorld
Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: HelloWorld
```
The error message clearly states that the HelloWorld class containing the main method could not be found or loaded.

Now try running the program again, specifying the location of the default package where our compiled code resides.
Since we compiled the class into the src directory, src is the default package for our compiled code (for now).
Execute the following command to specify the class path:
```
$ java -cp src HelloWorld
```
This time it worked!

PROTIP: You can execute a Java program anywhere on the system as long as you know the fully qualified name of the class containing the main method and the location of that compiled class's associated default package, assuming proper file permissions.
You may have noticed in the previous step that the .java file and .class file for the HelloWorld class are in the same directory. Let's keep our directories clean and separate our source code (.java files) from the compiled code (.class files).

First, delete the HelloWorld.class file from the src directory:
```
$ rm src/HelloWorld.class
```
Verify that your present working directory is still cs1302-packages then compile your program using javac with the -d option to specify a destination for the compiled code:
```
$ javac -d bin src/HelloWorld.java
```
When you're first starting out in a Unix environment, you might feel lost at times. Remember, it's always important to know your present working directory (pwd) as that is the location where the commands you enter will be run. In the command above, our pwd is cs1302-packages. Since the HelloWorld.java file is not in that directory, we had to specify the relative path src/HelloWorld.java to tell the compiler how to find that file relative to the pwd. We're telling the compiler "first, go into the src directory and then you'll see the file HelloWorld.java".

Now, if you list the contents of the bin directory, you will see that it contains HelloWorld.class. Listing the src directory contents will show only HelloWorld.java. Now our project is more organized!

Try running the program again, specifying the new class path (bin) using -cp:
```
$ java -cp bin HelloWorld
```
We will use the Unix find command often in this course to see all files in a directory and its subdirectories. Go ahead and execute find from within the cs1302-packages directory. If you've followed the steps correctly up until now, you will see the following output:
```
.
./bin
./bin/HelloWorld.class
./src
./src/cs1302
./src/cs1302/hello
./src/HelloWorld.java
```
The output of the find command shows that we sucessfully separated the source code (src) from the compiled code (bin). If you see any tilde (~) files, those are just backup copies of older versions of your files. You can ignore those.

PROTIP: Remember, source code should really only be placed directly in the default package directory (src) for convenience when developing small or temporary applications or when just beginning development [2]. While types in the default package can access types in other packages, the reverse is not true. That is, types in named packages cannot access types in the default package.
Let's clean up! Delete the HelloWorld.class file that you created in the bin folder. Remember to use tab completion so you don't have to type long filenames!

Named Package

Now let's create a named package. To place a class (or interface) in named package, you must do two things:

Place the .java file in the appropriate package directory; and
Include a package statement at the top of the .java file.

Let's try it by placing the HelloWorld class into the cs1302.hello package!

Change directly into cs1302-packages directory.
Move the HelloWorld.java file into the cs1302.hello package directory.
```
$ mv src/HelloWorld.java src/cs1302/hello/
```
This satisfies the first requirement for placing a class in a named package.
Using Emacs, edit the HelloWorld.java file and add the following package statement at the top:
```
package cs1302.hello;
```
This satisfies the second requirement for placing a class in a named package.

In Java, a package statement, if included, must be the first line of code in the file (i.e., excluding comments and white space).
Compile the program (don't forget tab completion - you don't want to type the whole command):
```
$ javac -d bin src/cs1302/hello/HelloWorld.java
```
Execute the find command. Note that the HelloWorld.class file was created under bin/cs1302/hello. The compiler automatically created the necessary package directories for our compiled code under bin!
Try to run the program using javac specify the classpath using -cp and include the fully qualified name (explained below) of the class containing the main method:
```
$ java -cp bin cs1302.hello.HelloWorld
```
In this example, cs1302.hello.HelloWorld is known as the fully qualified name of the HelloWorld class in the cs1302.hello package. You have seen fully qualified names before--they are often used with import statements (remember java.util.Scanner?). When you import a class, you can use the simple class name in that file instead of having to type the fully qualified name each time. In this case, HelloWorld is known as the name or simple name of the class.

PROTIP: Although packages correspond to directories, a fully qualified name uses . (dot) for the name separator and not a slash.

Code Dependencies

When Java code uses other Java code, that creates a dependency. Most of the programs that you've written have used code provided by Oracle under the various java subpackages. When you compile, those dependencies are automatically included on the class path. However, when your code depends on code that's not included with Java (e.g., code that you or someone else has written), you need to let javac know where the compiled version of that depedency is.

Let's extend the code we just finished. Create a cs1302.util.HelloUtility class under src. Remember, the fully qualified name implies a specific directory structure and package statement requirement with respect to HelloUtility.java. You will need to add the util directory in the proper place in your current directory hierarchy.
Write the code to declare the cs1302.util.HelloUtility class making sure to include the proper class declaration and package statement at the top. Then, within the class declaration, add the following method:
```
public static void excitingHello() {
    System.out.println("HELLO!!!!");
} // excitingHello
```
Save, then compile the .java file for the cs1302.util.HelloUtility class as usual, using bin as the destination for the compiled code. Once it compiles, make sure that the output from find matches the output below:

Note: If you see any tilde (~) files, those are just backup copies of older versions of your files. You can ignore those.
```
.
./bin
./bin/cs1302
./bin/cs1302/hello
./bin/cs1302/hello/HelloWorld.class
./bin/cs1302/util
./bin/cs1302/util/HelloUtility.class
./src
./src/cs1302
./src/cs1302/hello
./src/cs1302/hello/HelloWorld.java
./src/cs1302/util
./src/cs1302/util/HelloUtility.java
```
Now, modify the source code for your cs1302.hello.HelloWorld class to call the static method in cs1302.util.HelloUtility. To do this, you may:
1. Add an import statement between the package statement and class declation:
```
import cs1302.util.HelloUtility;
```
2. Call the method in main using the simple class name:
```
HelloUtility.excitingHello();
```
Completing these two steps create a dependency. Now, the cs1302.hello.HelloWorld class depends on the cs1302.util.HelloUtility class because it uses a method defined within that class.
If you try to compile the source code for your cs1302.hello.HelloWorld class exactly as you did before, then it will not work because the compiler cannot find cs1302.util.HelloUtility class on which cs1302.hello.HelloWorld depends. Try it! The error message should look like:
```
src/cs1302/hello/HelloWorld.java:3: error: package cs1302.util does not exist
import cs1302.util.HelloUtility;
                  ^
src/cs1302/hello/HelloWorld.java:8: error: cannot find symbol
     HelloUtility.excitingHello();
     ^
symbol:   variable HelloUtility
location: class HelloWorld
```
The error output is just javac saying that it cannot find something. In this case, it cannot find cs1302.util.HelloUtility as it is not in the same package as cs1302.hello.HelloWorld. Since we know it actually exists, we can just tell javac where to find it using -cp.

Remember that when your code depends on other code that you have written, you need to let javac know where the compiled version of that depedency is. Since you compiled under bin, that's where you should tell javac to look. Try to compile it again, but this time, be sure to include the -cp bin option in addition to -d bin option. The program should now run as expected.

Further Important Notes

Setting the Class Path

Both javac and java allow you specify the class path using the -cp or -classpath command-line option. The usual syntax is as follows:

-cp some/path

If more than one default package is needed, then a colon : can be used to separate each path in a list of multiple paths:

-cp path1:path2

Each path can be a path to a directory or a .jar file (usually used for third party libraries).

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: The class path should always point to a default package for compiled code. If you are compiling a .java file that depends on an already compiled class, then you will need to specifiy the class path to the corresponding default package for that dependency when invoking javac.

Import Statements

In Java, you do not have to import classes that are in the same package. However, it's interesting to note that import statements are actually never required in Java. We just use them for convenience. Assuming the corresponding default package for class's package is on the class path when compiling and/or running, you can always refer to a class by its fully qualified name. Consider two uses of java.util.Random below:

// assuming the class was imported
Random rng = new Random();

// assuming the class was NOT imported
java.util.Random rng = new java.util.Random();

As you can imagine, the latter (without an import statement) might get annoying and repetetive. Therefore, we usually prefer to use an import statement for the convenience it provides. Why would anyone prefer to use the fully qualified name instead of the simple name for a class? It enables you to use two classes from different packages with the same simple name at the same time!

The `java.lang` Package

Java automatically performs a wildcard import of the java.lang package (i.e., import java.lang.*;) in every Java file, without requiring the programmer to explicitly write it. That is why you can use classes such as java.lang.String and java.lang.System by their simple names without importing!

References

Feedback? Please help us make this better! If you have any feedback or suggestions for this reading or tutorial, then use the link below to reach the feedback form.

Copyright © Michael E. Cotterell, Brad Barnes, and the University of Georgia. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License to students and the public. The content and opinions expressed on this Web page do not necessarily reflect the views of nor are they endorsed by the University of Georgia or the University System of Georgia.

Provide feedback

Saved searches

Use saved searches to filter your results more quickly

Java Packages Tutorial

Prerequisites

Course-Specific Learning Outcomes

Java Packages

Setting up for a Package

Default Package

Named Package

Code Dependencies

Further Important Notes

Setting the Class Path

Import Statements

The `java.lang` Package

References

FilesExpand file tree

packages.md

Latest commit

History

packages.md

File metadata and controls

Java Packages Tutorial

Prerequisites

Course-Specific Learning Outcomes

Java Packages

Setting up for a Package

Default Package

Named Package

Code Dependencies

Further Important Notes

Setting the Class Path

Import Statements

The java.lang Package

References

The `java.lang` Package