问题
I was just reading this line:
The first thing the format() method does is load a Velocity template from the classpath named output.vm
Please explain what was meant by classpath in this context, and how I should set the classpath.
回答1:
When programming in Java, you make other classes available to the class you are writing by putting something like this at the top of your source file:
import org.javaguy.coolframework.MyClass;
Or sometimes you 'bulk import' stuff by saying:
import org.javaguy.coolframework.*;
So later in your program when you say:
MyClass mine = new MyClass();
The Java Virtual Machine will know where to find your compiled class.
It would be impractical to have the VM look through every folder on your machine, so you have to provide the VM a list of places to look. This is done by putting folder and jar files on your classpath.
Before we talk about how the classpath is set, let's talk about .class files, packages, and .jar files.
First, let's suppose that MyClass is something you built as part of your project, and it is in a directory in your project called output. The .class file would be at output/org/javaguy/coolframework/MyClass.class (along with every other file in that package). In order to get to that file, your path would simply need to contain the folder 'output', not the whole package structure, since your import statement provides all that information to the VM.
Now let's suppose that you bundle CoolFramework up into a .jar file, and put that CoolFramework.jar into a lib directory in your project. You would now need to put lib/CoolFramework.jar into your classpath. The VM will look inside the jar file for the org/javaguy/coolframework part, and find your class.
So, classpaths contain:
- JAR files, and
- Paths to the top of package hierarchies.
How do you set your classpath?
The first way everyone seems to learn is with environment variables. On a unix machine, you can say something like:
export CLASSPATH=/home/myaccount/myproject/lib/CoolFramework.jar:/home/myaccount/myproject/output/
On a Windows machine you have to go to your environment settings and either add or modify the value that is already there.
The second way is to use the -cp parameter when starting Java, like this:
java -cp "/home/myaccount/myproject/lib/CoolFramework.jar:/home/myaccount/myproject/output/" MyMainClass
A variant of this is the third way which is often done with a .sh or .bat file that calculates the classpath and passes it to Java via the -cp parameter.
There is a "gotcha" with all of the above. On most systems (Linux, Mac OS, UNIX, etc) the colon character (':') is the classpath separator. In windowsm the separator is the semicolon (';')
So what's the best way to do it?
Setting stuff globally via environment variables is bad, generally for the same kinds of reasons that global variables are bad. You change the CLASSPATH environment variable so one program works, and you end up breaking another program.
The -cp is the way to go. I generally make sure my CLASSPATH environment variable is an empty string where I develop, whenever possible, so that I avoid global classpath issues (some tools aren't happy when the global classpath is empty though - I know of two common, mega-thousand dollar licensed J2EE and Java servers that have this kind of issue with their command-line tools).
回答2:
Think of it as Java's answer to the PATH environment variable - OSes search for EXEs on the PATH, Java searches for classes and packages on the classpath.
回答3:
The classpath is the path where the Java Virtual Machine look for user-defined classes, packages and resources in Java programs.
In this context, the format() method load a template file from this path.
回答4:
The classpath in this context is exactly what it is in the general context: anywhere the VM knows it can find classes to be loaded, and resources as well (such as output.vm in your case).
I'd understand Velocity expects to find a file named output.vm anywhere in "no package". This can be a JAR, regular folder, ... The root of any of the locations in the application's classpath.
回答5:
Setting the CLASSPATH System Variable
To display the current CLASSPATH variable, use these commands in Windows and UNIX (Bourne shell):
In Windows: C:\> set CLASSPATH
In UNIX: % echo $CLASSPATH
To delete the current contents of the CLASSPATH variable, use these commands:
In Windows: C:\> set CLASSPATH=
In UNIX: % unset CLASSPATH; export CLASSPATH
To set the CLASSPATH variable, use these commands (for example):
In Windows: C:\> set CLASSPATH=C:\users\george\java\classes
In UNIX: % CLASSPATH=/home/george/java/classes; export CLASSPATH
回答6:
Classpath is an environment variable of system. The setting of this variable is used to provide the root of any package hierarchy to java compiler.
回答7:
CLASSPATH is an environment variable (i.e., global variables of the operating system available to all the processes) needed for the Java compiler and runtime to locate the Java packages used in a Java program. (Why not call PACKAGEPATH?) This is similar to another environment variable PATH, which is used by the CMD shell to find the executable programs.
CLASSPATH can be set in one of the following ways:
CLASSPATH can be set permanently in the environment: In Windows, choose control panel ⇒ System ⇒ Advanced ⇒ Environment Variables ⇒ choose "System Variables" (for all the users) or "User Variables" (only the currently login user) ⇒ choose "Edit" (if CLASSPATH already exists) or "New" ⇒ Enter "CLASSPATH" as the variable name ⇒ Enter the required directories and JAR files (separated by semicolons) as the value (e.g., ".;c:\javaproject\classes;d:\tomcat\lib\servlet-api.jar"). Take note that you need to include the current working directory (denoted by '.') in the CLASSPATH.
To check the current setting of the CLASSPATH, issue the following command:
> SET CLASSPATH
CLASSPATH can be set temporarily for that particular CMD shell session by issuing the following command:
> SET CLASSPATH=.;c:\javaproject\classes;d:\tomcat\lib\servlet-api.jar
Instead of using the CLASSPATH environment variable, you can also use the command-line option -classpath or -cp of the javac and java commands, for example,
> java –classpath c:\javaproject\classes com.abc.project1.subproject2.MyClass3
回答8:
Static member of a class can be called directly without creating object instance. Since the main method is static Java virtual Machine can call it without creating any instance of a class which contains the main method, which is start point of program.
回答9:
classpath and path are the evironment variables . usually , you have to put the jdk/bin to path so that u could use java compiler everywhere , classpath is the path of your .class files . the classpath has a default path a period(.) which means the current directory. but when u used the packages . u would either specify the full path of the .class file or put the .class file path in the classpath which would save a lots of works !
来源：https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2396493/what-is-a-classpath-and-how-do-i-set-it