Trying to run my first program: java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError

[Eric Fancis]

Hello,

I have Windows 7.
I am running JDK 6 update 26, 64-bit.
I have my PATH variable set to C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_26\bin

This is my program:

public class HelloWorld {
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		System.out.println("Hello World");
	}//End of main
}//End of HelloWorld Class

The file HelloWorld.java is located on my desktop.

I Run:

C:\Users\Eric\Desktop>javac HelloWorld.java

//HelloWorld.class is created on my desktop

C:\Users\Eric\Desktop>java HelloWorld.class
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: HelloWorld/class
Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: HelloWorld.class
at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(Unknown Source)
at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(Unknown Source)
at sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader.loadClass(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(Unknown Source)
Could not find the main class: HelloWorld.class. Program will exit.

Does anyone have any ideas why this is happening?

Thank you,
Eric

[marc weber]

Welcome to the ranch!

When you run java from the command line, supply the class name without the ".class" extension. Just type...

java HelloWorld

[Divya Chandrasekhar]

Agree with marc, when you compile you need to do:
javac <yourfilename>.java
and while running it you just need to do:
java <yourfilename>

[zameel amjed]

Yes, but make sure the file name is in same font case because java is case sensitive....
In your example, you should not use >java helloworld because it is not in same case where your class is defined.
>java HelloWorld is the correct format

[Zandis Murāns]

if you're still getting this no class def found error, try running in this way: java -cp . HelloWorld

[zameel amjed]

Read This

[Saorwumni Arun]

[color=red]public class Ex {

public static void class1(String arg[]) {

System.out.println("HELLO");
}
}[/color]

please explain me. whether this program could be run or not.

[Jesper de Jong]

Hello Saorwumni Arun, welcome to the Ranch.

In order to be able to run your Java program as a stand-alone program, it must have a public static void main(String[] args) method. In your code, the method is called class1 instead of main. So, you cannot run this - if you try, Java will complain that it cannot find the main method.

[jake dickens]

The programmer just did java HelloWorld.class.

just javac file.java

then

java file

[Saorwumni Arun]

thank you jesper de jong

[Saorwumni Arun]

i am using jre 1.6 and jdk 6. when run my program the error message occur.the message is "Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NoClassFoundError"


please help me out this problem

[Eric Fancis]

marc weber wrote:Welcome to the ranch!

When you run java from the command line, supply the class name without the ".class" extension. Just type...

java HelloWorld

Late response, but thanks!

[Rajat Jindal]

I hope you got the solution for your problem but still I would like to add something which is some times more important in debugging such problems.
Even if you try to run code using
java <fileName>

and you get NoClassDefFoundException error, then first thing you should check is your system classpath. In case your system classpath is not pointing to current directory then it may give you an error.
You can check classpath in DOS using command
set classpath

and you can set the classpath as
set classpath=%classpath%;.;

here .(dot) indicates current directory. So what would happen when you will try to run the program it will search .class file in current directory also.

or in short you can use the solution as mentioned by

zameel amjed wrote
if you're still getting this no class def found error, try running in this way: java -cp . HelloWorld

[Jeff Verdegan]

Rajat Jindal wrote:I hope you got the solution for your problem but still I would like to add something which is some times more important in debugging such problems.
Even if you try to run code using
java <fileName>

That would be an error. The argument to the java command is a fully qualified class name, not a file name.

and you get NoClassDefFoundException error, then first thing you should check is your system classpath. In case your system classpath is not pointing to current directory then it may give you an error.
You can check classpath in DOS using command
set classpath

and you can set the classpath as
set classpath=%classpath%;.;

It's better not to use the CLASSPATH environment variable at all. Just use -cp or -classpath on the command line.

[Rajat Jindal]

1. <fileName> meant to be fully qualified file name
2. You cant escape yourself by setting classpath on command line, in many situations you always have a classpath defined in your system environmental variables, so better way is to just make a check.

[Jeff Verdegan]

Rajat Jindal wrote:1. <fileName> meant to be fully qualified file name

Class name, not file name. They are two different things.

2. You cant escape yourself by setting classpath on command line, in many situations you always have a classpath defined in your system environmental variables, so better way is to just make a check.

The command line one will override the environment variable. Different apps need different classpaths, and some installers (QuickTime) mess with your CLASSPATH environment variable. It really is better to just ignore it completely and always specify the exact classpath you want on the command line.

[Rajat Jindal]

Jeff Verdegan wrote
Class name, not file name. They are two different things.

I mean the <class> file Name which contains main method in case of core java.

The command line one will override the environment variable. Different apps need different classpaths, and some installers (QuickTime) mess with your CLASSPATH environment variable.

In case you are using a set of packages then you need to set classpath every time on command line for those packages which is quite difficult. For instance one classpath is pointing to some Database driver jar, other belongs to some 3rd party libraries and one which belongs to your self set of classes. So I would say its better to set it in environmental variable but always remember it and dont forget it to check once
For small programs your solution is best.

[Campbell Ritchie]

Rajat Jindal wrote: . . . So I would say its better to set it in environmental variable . . .

Disagree. If you set a classpath environment variable for every possible application, that environment variable will expand and become too large for you to handle.

[Rajat Jindal]

I am not saying, it's a good practice to set classpath in environmental variable but I am saying, you cant escape out because sometimes new applications installed can also set classpath in the system and if you don't check that it will also create problem, moreover, in case you are developing application which needs both servlet-jsp jars as well as jdbc driver jars, wouldn't it be a better option to set in classpath temporarily ??

[Campbell Ritchie]

No. You should not set a classpath ever. If you find something else has set a classpath, you will need to amend that classpath by adding . for current directory, probably as its first entry.
I think it is better to use the command line to set the classpath; repeatedly altering a system environment variable is liable to introduce errors into it.
You can use the -cp option and once you have found the correct classpath, you can retrieve that command for reuse with the ↓ and ↑ keys.

[jaibardhan Ruwari]

Issue-java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError
Root Cause- Incorrect Java path set in Environment Variable Section
Solution- Set correct JAVA_HOME Path
Steps->Environment Variable Setting (My Comp-Right Click ->Properties->Env Variable->Advance Tab ->Variable)
1) Create new JAVA_HOME Environment Variable.
JAVA_HOME .;C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk1.6.0_14
Amend JAVA_HOME classpath by adding . for current directory
2) Set JAVA_HOME variable in PATH Variable section.
PATH %JAVA_HOME%\bin
3) Set JAVA_HOME variable in CLASSPATH Variable
CLASSPATH %JAVA_HOME%\jre\lib
4) Restart System
5) Verify all variable
echo %CLASSPATH%
echo %JAVA_HOME%
echo %PATH%
6) Compile java class javac Test.java
7) Run Java program java Test

[Jesper de Jong]

jaibardhan Ruwari, thanks for you answer - but what you propose (setting JAVA_HOME) is not a solution for the problem.

In fact, Java itself does not use the JAVA_HOME environment variable at all, so setting it has no effect. Only some third-party software (Apache Tomcat, for example), uses JAVA_HOME to locate the Java runtime environment.

Setting JAVA_HOME will not solve a NoClassDefFoundError.