Proper usage of Java -D command-line parameters

Question

When passing a -D parameter in Java, what is the proper way of writing the command-line and then accessing it from code?

For example, I have tried writing something

Answer 1

You're giving parameters to your program instead to Java. Use

java -Dtest="true" -jar myApplication.jar 

instead.

Consider using

"true".equalsIgnoreCase(System.getProperty("test"))

to avoid the NPE. But do not use "Yoda conditions" always without thinking, sometimes throwing the NPE is the right behavior and sometimes something like

System.getProperty("test") == null || System.getProperty("test").equalsIgnoreCase("true")

is right (providing default true). A shorter possibility is

!"false".equalsIgnoreCase(System.getProperty("test"))

but not using double negation doesn't make it less hard to misunderstand.