How Java compilation works? - java

I have a question about java compilation or sequence of java file compilation.
Question - I have a small object oriented program where I have three classes. I wrote java code for the biggest one where I am creating the objects for other two classes and invoking the methods from other two classes. other two classes are very small. When I compiled the first class file (without writing other two class files), I got few compilation error messages. Then I wrote both new class files (but I didn't compile them, only .java files), my first class file compiled fine.
--So I want to understand, do I need to compile all the Java files to get all object references in those classes working or just writing java files is fine to compile any of these?

If you compile the one that refers to all the others, they will be compiled automatically as soon as Compiler encounters them in your code.

I would use a build system like maven, ant or your IDEs build system. This means you don't need to worry about these issues.
In answer to your question; it depends. You often don't need to compile everything, javac can compile more than one source file at once, sometimes you have to rebuild dependencies.

Related

how to avoid using javac -cp

I have a Java class which uses a .jar file.
Every time that I want to compile this class, I have to do something like javac -cp ".:myJar.jar" myClass.java and every time that I want to execute it, I have to do the similar thing but with java instead of javac.
Is there a way to avoid doing this?
I know that I could put this jar file into my class path but I don't want to do that. I don't neither want to do a maven projet.
There is nothing preventing you from using an IDE, taking advantage of all its super useful features when developing the program, and then submit just the source code and associated jars to the professor.
Advantages of using IDE that your professor don't need:
Syntax color-coded editors with auto-complete.
Built-in display of javadoc, so you know what all the built-in Java methods do, and how they work.
Instant high-lighting of syntax errors.
Never having to compile the code, since IDE always keeps the code compiled.
Easy single-button execution of the program when you want to run it.
Debugger. Very important feature when your code is not working as you intended.
... more ...

Reverse Engineering of an APK

For my master thesis I'm studying and improving the security of an application. The code is obfuscated and my goal now is to see how easily I can exploit the application. However, I'm having some problems; I think I may have found a piece of code that, when removed, will allow me to override some fundamental step of the application logic. As such, I want to recompile the single class that contains that piece of code and replace the one on the application with this new version. I used dex2jar to obtain a jar with all the classes and have already obtained the .java file with the class I want to alter. My exact problem is how I can recompile the file. I already downloaded the Android API jars and I'm using javac with the classpath pointing to the jar having the remaining classes of the application and to the Android API, but I still can't compile as javac complains about some Android literals being ambiguous. Can you please help? Thanks!

Issue running java program from batch file, runs fine in IDE

I'm doing some basic java homework for a class on my new laptop - issue is, I can't seem to get the program to compile and run from my batch file using the directions the instructor gave me.
I've set the Path variable to my JDK inside the Environment Variables settings.
My program is a simple shipping program to keep track of shipment information - I have the program working flawlessly in NetBeans (which our instructor advised us to use for developing the code), but he's going to be testing them using batch files, so we're also advised to test them on our systems with one we create prior to turning them in - pretty straightforward.
Issue is, I cannot seem to get this to work. I've never done it before, but I've used .bat files to compile and run C++ programs, as well as using makefiles on a unix system, so I feel like I'm absolutely stupid for not figuring this out on my own, but none of my searches have returned any fruitful solutions that help at all.
My program consists of 3 .java files:
Shipment.java - an interface that contains abstracted methods that are implemented in the ShipmentHW1 class
ShipmentHW1.java - a class that implements the abstracted methods from Shipment and has constructors, etc to create a usable object
TestShipment.java - the main class of this program, which utilizes and creates ShipmentHW1 objects based on preset parameters. This is super duper basic stuff here, and again, it runs perfectly fine inside the NetBeans IDE.
The instructions given to us state to have the batch file inside the package directory (which in this case I've set aside a seperate folder on my desktop titled "shipping", which is the package name - shouldn't be any issues there), where the 3 .java files are located as well.
They say if you don't need to explicitly list the path to the JDK, then you can simply have
javac TestShipment.java
java TestShipment.java
pause
Afterwards I get errors talking about how it "cannot find symbol Shipment s = new ShipmentHW1();"
I've tried adding imports, but since they're in the same package it shouldn't even be an issue.
Directory path is
C:\Users\X\Desktop\shipping
All 7 files are contained within:
TestShipment.java
TestShipment.class
Shipment.java
Shipment.class
ShipmentHW1.java
ShipmentHW1.class
doHW1.bat
Does anyone have any idea? I can provide more information if I've been too vague
Also, I'm on Windows 8 if that makes any difference
Solved
Batch file now reads
javac TestShipment.java Shipment.java ShipmentHW1.java
cd ..
java shipment.TestShipment
pause
and it works like a charm. Anyone have any ideas why I had to call the package.class instead of just compiling it regularly?
Try doing
javac TestShipment.java
java TestShipment
pause
Without seeing the contents of TestShipment.java, I'll assume you have some dependency on the Shipment and ShipmentHW1 classes. As such, when you execute a program that uses the TestShipment class, you need to have the .class files for each of the three (and any other dependencies).
So you will have to compile Shipment.java and ShipmentHW1.java as well before running your java command. If they are in the same package, you're good, if not, you will have to specify an appropriate value for the -cp option.
When running java with a class name, you need to specify the fully qualified class name.
If your .java files are declared to be in the 'shipping' package, then you probably need to be running java from the parent directory of 'shipping', e.g.
cd <path>/shipping
javac TestShipment.java
cd ..
java shipping/TestShipment

Compiling a Java Project using Compiler API

I'm trying to compile a whole java project dynamically using the Compiler API. My initial thoughts of achieving this is to first know how to compile it in one-line using command line, then apply the same principle/parameters on the compiler object. Problem is, I never did, err, compiled using CLI. (Disadvantage of using an IDE? Haha)
So, am I on the right track? Moreover, can the project compilation achieved in one line execution? I'm having a hard time figuring this out because of the fact that it's a project, it contains packages galore.
So you either want to learn javac or Java Compiler API?
If you want CLI compilation look at javac (Linux | windows).
Alternatively for API, then programmatic use of Java's compiler API will definitely require more that one line, this will get you the compiler:
JavaCompilercompiler =ToolProvider.getSystemJavaCompiler();
Then you'll still need to load classes, write out byte code, and possibly package as a JAR.
You should use StandardJavaFileManager as you've probably many classes to manage, there's an example in the top of the JavaCompiler javadoc, but search for StandardJavaFileManager+JavaCompiler+example to find clearer examples like this blog post.

How can I build a compile graph for Java files?

I have a large number of classes in a project, and I would like to compile all of them from a script. The thing is, the classes should be compiled in a certain order, for example: I have a class named A which depends on a class named B. Let's say class B depends on a class named C. In order for me to compile class A, I would have to compile first B and C.
Is there some tool I could use to establish the compile order of the classes, so that I don't have to parse each class and determine this myself? I would preffer that the tool can save a file with the order of the files to be compiled, so that I could parse that from my script.
Thanks !
If you compile all of them at the same time (in the same javac invocation), you do not need to do anything of the sort you are describing. javac is smart enough to compile all files you give to it at the same time, so it doesn't have any problem with out-of-order compilation.
The Java compiler (Javac) already builds up a dependency list of all the class files you need to compile. The real dependency here is between packages - not individual java files in the same package (this is automatically taken care of by the compiler).
Use a tool like Ant or Maven to specify and compile all the files in various packages and produce your final distribution.
If you are using an IDE like NetBeans, it automatically does this for you. Alternatively, if use a tool like JDepend
These kinds of DAG ordering problems are usually solved with topological sorting. See Wikipedia for a description. I don't know if there is a tool such as the one you are looking for, but implementing it yourself is should not be that difficult.

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