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How does Javac find source code?

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  How does Javac find source code? Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2014-08-04 19:41 -0700
    Re: How does Javac find source code? Jeff Higgins <jeff@invalid.invalid> - 2014-08-05 17:48 -0400

#2981 — How does Javac find source code?

Back in the days of Java 1.0 I figured out how Javac.exe and Java.exe
find their source code and classes on the sourcepath/classpath.

However one mystery has remained. The question is not a practical one,
just a minor irritant.

Java insists you put each public class in its own source code file
with a name matching the class and the directory structure matching
the package. This is how Java can find the source for a class it
needs. It can generate the source code file name.

However, you are permitted to include  a non-public top-level class in
the same source file as a public class. How then does Java find that
non-public class?

Does it just search all the *.java files in that package?
Does it postpone looking for it until it has loaded all the top level
classes it wants, and hope it finds it by serendipity?
-- 
Roedy Green Canadian Mind Products http://mindprod.com
The art of strongly-typed language design is largely arranging 
that errors are automatically detected as soon as possible
in the compose, compile, run cycle.

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#2983

On 08/04/2014 10:41 PM, Roedy Green wrote:
> Back in the days of Java 1.0 I figured out how Javac.exe and Java.exe
> find their source code and classes on the sourcepath/classpath.
>
> However one mystery has remained. The question is not a practical one,
> just a minor irritant.
>
> Java insists you put each public class in its own source code file
> with a name matching the class and the directory structure matching
> the package. This is how Java can find the source for a class it
> needs. It can generate the source code file name.
>
> However, you are permitted to include  a non-public top-level class in
> the same source file as a public class. How then does Java find that
> non-public class?
>
> Does it just search all the *.java files in that package?
> Does it postpone looking for it until it has loaded all the top level
> classes it wants, and hope it finds it by serendipity?
>
You might try the Hitchhiker's Guide to start.
<http://openjdk.java.net/groups/compiler/doc/hhgtjavac/index.html>

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