PATH and CLASSPATH

This section explains how to use the PATH and CLASSPATH environment variables on Microsoft Windows, Solaris, and Linux. Consult the installation instructions included with your installation of the Java Development Kit (JDK) software bundle for current information.
After installing the software, the JDK directory will have the structure shown below.
The bin directory contains both the compiler and the launcher.

Update the PATH Environment Variable (Microsoft Windows)

You can run Java applications just fine without setting the PATH environment variable. Or, you can optionally set it as a convenience.
Set the PATH environment variable if you want to be able to conveniently run the executables (javac.exe, java.exe, javadoc.exe, and so on) from any directory without having to type the full path of the command. If you do not set the PATH variable, you need to specify the full path to the executable every time you run it, such as:

C:\Java\jdk1.7.0\bin\javac MyClass.java

The PATH environment variable is a series of directories separated by semicolons (;). Microsoft Windows looks for programs in the PATH directories in order, from left to right. You should have only one bin directory for the JDK in the path at a time (those following the first are ignored), so if one is already present, you can update that particular entry.
The following is an example of a PATH environment variable:

C:\Java\jdk1.7.0\bin;C:\Windows\System32\;C:\Windows\;C:\Windows\System32\Wbem

It is useful to set the PATH environment variable permanently so it will persist after rebooting. To make a permanent change to the PATH variable, use the System icon in the Control Panel. The precise procedure varies depending on the version of Windows:
Windows XP

1. Select Start, select Control Panel. double click System, and select the Advanced tab.
2. Click Environment Variables. In the section System Variables, find the PATH environment variable and select it. Click Edit. If the PATH environment variable does not exist, click New.
3. In the Edit System Variable (or New System Variable) window, specify the value of the PATH environment variable. Click OK. Close all remaining windows by clicking OK.

Windows Vista:

1. From the desktop, right click the My Computer icon.
2. Choose Properties from the context menu.
3. Click the Advanced tab (Advanced system settings link in Vista).
4. Click Environment Variables. In the section System Variables, find the PATH environment variable and select it. Click Edit. If the PATH environment variable does not exist, click New.
5. In the Edit System Variable (or New System Variable) window, specify the value of the PATH environment variable. Click OK. Close all remaining windows by clicking OK.

Windows 7:

1. From the desktop, right click the Computer icon.
2. Choose Properties from the context menu.
3. Click the Advanced system settings link.
4. Click Environment Variables. In the section System Variables, find the PATH environment variable and select it. Click Edit. If the PATH environment variable does not exist, click New.
5. In the Edit System Variable (or New System Variable) window, specify the value of the PATH environment variable. Click OK. Close all remaining windows by clicking OK.

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Note: You may see a PATH environment variable similar to the following when editing it from the Control Panel:

%JAVA_HOME%\bin;%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem

Variables enclosed in percentage signs (%) are existing environment variables. If one of these variables is listed in the Environment Variables window from the Control Panel (such as JAVA_HOME), then you can edit its value. If it does not appear, then it is a special environment variable that the operating system has defined. For example, SystemRoot is the location of the Microsoft Windows system folder. To obtain the value of a environment variable, enter the following at a command prompt. (This example obtains the value of the SystemRoot environment variable):

echo %SystemRoot%

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Update the PATH Variable (Solaris and Linux)

You can run the JDK just fine without setting the PATH variable, or you can optionally set it as a convenience. However, you should set the path variable if you want to be able to run the executables (javac, java, javadoc, and so on) from any directory without having to type the full path of the command. If you do not set the PATH variable, you need to specify the full path to the executable every time you run it, such as:

% /usr/local/jdk1.7.0/bin/javac MyClass.java

To find out if the path is properly set, execute:

% java -version

This will print the version of the java tool, if it can find it. If the version is old or you get the error java: Command not found, then the path is not properly set.
To set the path permanently, set the path in your startup file.
For C shell (csh), edit the startup file (~/.cshrc):

set path=(/usr/local/jdk1.7.0/bin $path)

For bash, edit the startup file (~/.bashrc):

PATH=/usr/local/jdk1.7.0/bin:$PATH
export PATH

For ksh, the startup file is named by the environment variable, ENV. To set the path:

PATH=/usr/local/jdk1.7.0/bin:$PATH
export PATH

For sh, edit the profile file (~/.profile):

PATH=/usr/local/jdk1.7.0/bin:$PATH
export PATH

Then load the startup file and verify that the path is set by repeating the java command:
For C shell (csh):

% source ~/.cshrc
% java -version

For ksh, bash, or sh:

% . /.profile
% java -version

Checking the CLASSPATH variable (All platforms)

The CLASSPATH variable is one way to tell applications, including the JDK tools, where to look for user classes. (Classes that are part of the JRE, JDK platform, and extensions should be defined through other means, such as the bootstrap class path or the extensions directory.)
The preferred way to specify the class path is by using the -cp command line switch. This allows the CLASSPATH to be set individually for each application without affecting other applications. Setting the CLASSPATH can be tricky and should be performed with care.
The default value of the class path is ".", meaning that only the current directory is searched. Specifying either the CLASSPATH variable or the -cp command line switch overrides this value.
To check whether CLASSPATH is set on Microsoft Windows NT/2000/XP, execute the following:

C:> echo %CLASSPATH%

On Solaris or Linux, execute the following:

% echo $CLASSPATH

If CLASSPATH is not set you will get a CLASSPATH: Undefined variable error (Solaris or Linux) or simply %CLASSPATH% (Microsoft Windows NT/2000/XP).
To modify the CLASSPATH, use the same procedure you used for the PATH variable.
Class path wildcards allow you to include an entire directory of .jar files in the class path without explicitly naming them individually. For more information, including an explanation of class path wildcards, and a detailed description on how to clean up the CLASSPATH environment variable, see the Setting the Class Path technical note.

Is it possible in Java2D to move the coordinate system?

down vote accepted

You can change your coordinate system using the translate() function. For example: Graphics2D g; // Assume this is already initialized g.drawLine(100, 100, 200, 200); // Draw in the default coordinate system g.translate(100.0, 100.0); // Move the origin down and to the right g.drawLine(0, 0, 100, 100); // Draw the same line relative to new origin You can also use scale(), rotate() and shear() for more powerful transformations of the coordinate system. For more information check this page: http://docstore.mik.ua/orelly/java-ent/jfc/ch04_03.htm

How do I get the dynamic class name of an object?

String className = obj.getClass().getSimpleName();

Update:

public class Test {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Area map[][] = new Area[1][1];
        map[0][0] = new AntHillArea();
        String name = map[0][0].getClass().getSimpleName(); // returns "AntHillArea"
        System.out.println(name);
    }
}

class Area {

}

class AntHillArea extends Area {

}

Use getSimpleName method. It gives you only class and will remove any package if having.

Java BlockingQueue Example

Today we will look into Java BlockingQueue. java.util.concurrent.BlockingQueue is a java Queue that support operations that wait for the queue to become non-empty when retrieving and removing an element, and wait for space to become available in the queue when adding an element.

Java BlockingQueue

Java BlockingQueue doesn’t accept null values and throw NullPointerException if you try to store null value in the queue.
Java BlockingQueue implementations are thread-safe. All queuing methods are atomic in nature and use internal locks or other forms of concurrency control.

Java BlockingQueue interface is part of java collections framework and it’s primarily used for implementing producer consumer problem. We don’t need to worry about waiting for the space to be available for producer or object to be available for consumer in BlockingQueue because it’s handled by implementation classes of BlockingQueue.
Java provides several BlockingQueue implementations such as ArrayBlockingQueue, LinkedBlockingQueue, PriorityBlockingQueue, SynchronousQueue etc.
While implementing producer consumer problem in BlockingQueue, we will use ArrayBlockingQueue implementation. Following are some important methods you should know.

• put(E e): This method is used to insert elements to the queue. If the queue is full, it waits for the space to be available.
• E take(): This method retrieves and remove the element from the head of the queue. If queue is empty it waits for the element to be available.

Let’s implement producer consumer problem using java BlockingQueue now.

Java BlockingQueue Example – Message

Just a normal java object that will be produced by Producer and added to the queue. You can also call it as payload or queue message.

package com.journaldev.concurrency;

public class Message {
    private String msg;
    
    public Message(String str){
        this.msg=str;
    }

    public String getMsg() {
        return msg;
    }

}

Java BlockingQueue Example – Producer

Producer class that will create messages and put it in the queue.

package com.journaldev.concurrency;

import java.util.concurrent.BlockingQueue;

public class Producer implements Runnable {

    private BlockingQueue<Message> queue;
    
    public Producer(BlockingQueue<Message> q){
        this.queue=q;
    }
    @Override
    public void run() {
        //produce messages
        for(int i=0; i<100; i++){
            Message msg = new Message(""+i);
            try {
                Thread.sleep(i);
                queue.put(msg);
                System.out.println("Produced "+msg.getMsg());
            } catch (InterruptedException e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
            }
        }
        //adding exit message
        Message msg = new Message("exit");
        try {
            queue.put(msg);
        } catch (InterruptedException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }

}

Java BlockingQueue Example - Consumer

Consumer class that will process on the messages from the queue and terminates when exit message is received.

package com.journaldev.concurrency;

import java.util.concurrent.BlockingQueue;

public class Consumer implements Runnable{

private BlockingQueue<Message> queue;
    
    public Consumer(BlockingQueue<Message> q){
        this.queue=q;
    }

    @Override
    public void run() {
        try{
            Message msg;
            //consuming messages until exit message is received
            while((msg = queue.take()).getMsg() !="exit"){
            Thread.sleep(10);
            System.out.println("Consumed "+msg.getMsg());
            }
        }catch(InterruptedException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

Java BlockingQueue Example - Service

Finally we have to create BlockingQueue service for producer and consumer. This producer consumer service will create the BlockingQueue with fixed size and share with both producers and consumers. This service will start producer and consumer threads and exit.

package com.journaldev.concurrency;

import java.util.concurrent.ArrayBlockingQueue;
import java.util.concurrent.BlockingQueue;

public class ProducerConsumerService {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        //Creating BlockingQueue of size 10
        BlockingQueue<Message> queue = new ArrayBlockingQueue<>(10);
        Producer producer = new Producer(queue);
        Consumer consumer = new Consumer(queue);
        //starting producer to produce messages in queue
        new Thread(producer).start();
        //starting consumer to consume messages from queue
        new Thread(consumer).start();
        System.out.println("Producer and Consumer has been started");
    }

}

Output of the above java BlockingQueue example program is shown below.

Producer and Consumer has been started
Produced 0
Produced 1
Produced 2
Produced 3
Produced 4
Consumed 0
Produced 5
Consumed 1
Produced 6
Produced 7
Consumed 2
Produced 8
...

Java Thread sleep is used in producer and consumer to produce and consume messages with some delay.

How to create a Jar file in Netbeans

Create a Java archive (.jar) file using NetBeans as follows:

1. Right-click on the Project name
2. Select Properties
3. Click Packaging
4. Check Build JAR after Compiling
5. Check Compress JAR File
6. Click OK to accept changes
7. Right-click on a Project name
8. Select Build or Clean and Build

Clean and Build will first delete build artifacts (such as .class files), whereas Build will retain any existing .class files, creating new versions necessary. To elucidate, imagine a project with two classes, A and B.
When built the first time, the IDE creates A.class and B.class. Now you delete B.java but don't clear out B.class. Executing Build should leave B.class in the build directory, and bundle it into the JAR. Selecting Clean and Build will delete B.class. Since B.java was deleted, no longer will B.class be bundled.
The JAR file is built. To view it inside NetBeans:

1. Click the Files tab
2. Expand Project name >> dist

Ensure files aren't being excluded when building the JAR file.