Java in a Nutshell, 5th Edition

Name

java — The Java Interpreter

Synopsis

java [ interpreter-options ] classname [ program-arguments ]
java [ interpreter-options ] -jar jarfile [ program-arguments ]

Description

java is the Java byte-code interpreter; it runs Java programs. The program to be run is the class specified by classname. This must be a fully qualified name: it must include the package name of the class but not the .class file extension. For example:

% java david.games.Checkers
% java Test
               

The specified class must define a main( ) method with exactly the following signature:

public static void main(String[] args)

This method serves as the program entry point: the interpreter begins execution here.

In Java 1.2 and later, a program can be packaged in an executable JAR file. To run a program packaged in this fashion, use the -jar option to specify the JAR file. The manifest of an executable JAR file must contain a Main-Class attribute that specifies which class within the JAR file contains the main( ) method at which the interpreter is to begin execution.

Any command-line options that precede the name of the class or JAR file to execute are options to the Java interpreter itself. Any options that follow the class name or JAR filename are options to the program; they are ignored by the Java interpreter and passed as an array of strings to the main() method of the program.

The Java interpreter runs until the main( ) method exits, and any threads (except for threads marked as daemon threads) created by the program ...