Question about compiling

First of all, hello to everyone. This is my first post on here. I'm new to Java programming, but not a complete noob when it comes to other languages.

I'm having problems compiling anything in Java. I followed the HelloWorld tutorial found at (http://www.javaranch.com/java-college.jsp)--added the PATH, CLASSPATH, etc.--but it doesn't seem to be working.

Here's the code I entered into my editor:

public class HelloWorld
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
System.out.println("Hello World!");
}
}

Then I went to the command prompt and entered:

javac HelloWorld.java

After that I typed in:

java HelloWorld.class

I get the following error message:

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: HelloWorld/class

Any help that you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome to JavaRanch.

When executing Java programs using the "java" executable you do not specify the file name, but the class name. So instead of "java HelloWorld.class" it should be "java HelloWorld".

Thanks Ulf. That worked, and now I feel like a complete noob

Originally posted by Scott Mahoney:
Thanks Ulf. That worked, and now I feel like a complete noob

yes, Ulf is very helpful. But don't feel bad about it; everybody does the same thing!

Everybody was a noob at one time. After a year, I still am. Thank goodness for the JavaRanch.com where people help you when you're stumped.