Simple Compiling Question

Hi there, I figured I'd come here for a bit of help, and probably stick around for a while. I've been learning programming for about 6 years now, first BASIC, then C++, and now Java. I wouldn't exactly call myself a beginner in the concepts involved, but there's a lot of the 'basic' stuff I've been exposed to recently. I was writing Java programs before on a Linux machine, compiling and executing through the terminal. Although it was different than how I coded before (through Borland C++), it wasn't too difficult. Now I'm trying to code on my PC through the MS-DOS prompt. I found the java command to execute, but how do I compile my program? There isn't any javac command. I'm using the Java 1.4 SDK. Any help/tips would be appreciated

Dan

you say this command :
c:\path of jdk\bin\> javac yourprogram.java

Does it have to be in the java sdk directory? I've got a program now just in C:\, for the sake of simplicity. ">javac Test.java" did SOMETHING, but then "java Test" brought up the "exception in thread "main" java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: Test" error, which I assume means it wasn't compiled.... right?
Dan

Is your program run "main" ?

make sure that your program has a properly formatted main method:
public static void main(String[] args) {
}

NoClassDefFoundError is usually a problem with the classpath.

What is your classpath? Does it point to the subdir where the compiled Test.class can be found?

Daniel, a good place to start is here: Suns's Instructions
If something fails, let us know and we will try to help you fix it.

Thanks for the link to Sun. Turns out the path for javac wasn't set right. It's compiling now

Dan

That error message was generated when I tried executing Test, but since it wasn't compiled it wouldn't do anything (I think).
Dan