Calling main() method

[Chandra Mouli]

Hi,
I wrote a program like the one below.
public class Test {
private static void main(String args[]) {
System.out.println("Hello");
}
}
Instead of declaring main method as public, I declared it as private.
But still the program was running without any error and printed "Hello".
Can anyone please tell what is actually happening?
Thankx in advance...

[Igor Ko]

Obviously it depends of java (JVM).
How it works - search in public class the main function, and
check its signature (type of argument, output value, static/not
static, public/private/protection/default)
Probably used version of JVM don't have check of access attribute,
or the check accepted not only public, but your case.
What is the problem?
Exists a lot of JVM.
And men writing JVM aren't alwais perfect.

[Pratibha Malhotra]

Yes .. It does work perfectly OK...
As a matter of fact private main method issue is a known problem with a bug report opened against it.
Sun has however closed the bug report and the problem will NOT be fixed.
But be careful while taking the certification exam.

[Igor Ko]

OK, so Sun doesn't think that is important.
Igor
Sun Uncertified java programmer.
[ December 22, 2003: Message edited by: Igor Ko ]

[Dirk Schreckmann]

Note that this was an issue of older JVMs. Sun's latest 1.4.2 JVM requires that the main method be public.