Trail: Getting Started
Lesson: The "Hello World!" Application
The "Hello World!" Application
"Hello World!" for the NetBeans IDE
"Hello World!" for Microsoft Windows
"Hello World!" for Solaris OS and Linux
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"Hello World!" for the NetBeans IDE

It's time to write your first application! These detailed instructions are for users of the NetBeans IDE. The NetBeans IDE runs on the Java platform, which means that you can use it with any operating system for which there is a JDK 6 available. These operating systems include Microsoft Windows, Solaris OS, Linux, and Mac OS X.

A Checklist 

To write your first program, you'll need:
  1. The Java SE Development Kit 6 (JDK 6)

  2. The NetBeans IDE

Creating Your First Application

Your first application, HelloWorldApp, will simply display the greeting "Hello World!". To create this program, you will: 

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Create an IDE Project

To create an IDE project:

  1. Launch the NetBeans IDE.
    • On Microsoft Windows systems, you can use the NetBeans IDE item in the Start menu.
    • On Solaris OS and Linux systems, you execute the IDE launcher script by navigating to the IDE's bin directory and typing ./netbeans.
    • On Mac OS X systems, click the NetBeans IDE application icon.

  2. In the NetBeans IDE, choose File | New Project.

    3. NetBeans IDE with the File | New Project menu item selected.

    NetBeans IDE with the File | New Project menu item selected.

  3. In the New Project wizard, expand the General category and select Java Application as shown in the following figure:

    4. NetBeans IDE, New Project wizard, Choose Project page.

    NetBeans IDE, New Project wizard, Choose Project page.

  4. In the Name and Location page of the wizard, do the following (as shown in the figure below):
    • In the Project Name field, type Hello World App.
    • In the Create Main Class field, type helloworldapp.HelloWorldApp.
    • Leave the Set as Main Project checkbox selected.

    NetBeans IDE, New Project wizard, Name and Location page.

    NetBeans IDE, New Project wizard, Name and Location page.

  5. Click Finish.

The project is created and opened in the IDE. You should see the following components:

Add JDK 6 to the Platform List (if necessary)

It may be necessary to add JDK 6 to the IDE's list of available platforms. To do this, choose Tools | Java Platform Manager as shown in the following figure:

Selecting the Java Platform Manager from the Tools Menu

Selecting the Java Platform Manager from the Tools Menu

If you don't see JDK 6 (which might appear as 1.6 or 1.6.0) in the list of installed platforms, click "Add Platform", navigate to your JDK 6 install directory, and click "Finish". You should now see this newly added platform:

The Java Platform Manager from the Tools Menu

The Java Platform Manager

To set this JDK as the default for all projects, you can run the IDE with the --jdkhome switch on the command line, or by entering the path to the JDK in the netbeans_j2sdkhome property of your INSTALLATION_DIRECTORY/etc/netbeans.conf file.

To specify this JDK for the current project only, select Hello World App in the Projects pane, choose File | "Hello World App" Properties, click on Libraries, then select JDK 6 under the Java Platform pulldown menu. You should see a screen similar to the following:

The IDE is now configured for JDK 6.

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Add Code to the Generated Source File

When you created this project, you left the Create Main Class checkbox selected in the New Project wizard. The IDE has therefore created a skeleton class for you. You can add the "Hello World!" message to the skeleton code by replacing the line: 

// TODO code application logic here
with the line: 
System.out.println("Hello World!"); // Display the string.
Optionally, you can replace these four lines of generated code: 
/**
 *
 * @author 
 */
with these lines: 
/**
 * The HelloWorldApp class implements an application that
 * simply prints "Hello World!" to standard output.
 */
These four lines are a code comment and do not affect how the program runs. Later sections of this tutorial explain the use and format of code comments.
 Be Careful When You Type

Type all code, commands, and file names exactly as shown. Both the compiler (javac) and launcher (java) are case-sensitive, so you must capitalize consistently.

HelloWorldApp helloworldapp

Save your changes by choosing File | Save.

The file should look something like the following:

/*
 * HelloWorldApp.java
 *
 * Created on February 5, 2006, 6:43 PM
 *
 * To change this template, choose Tools | Template Manager
 * and open the template in the editor.
 */

package helloworldapp;

/**
 * The HelloWorldApp class implements an application that
 * simply prints "Hello World!" to standard output.
 */
public class HelloWorldApp {
    
    /** Creates a new instance of HelloWorldApp */
    public HelloWorldApp() {
    }
    
    /**
     * @param args the command line arguments
     */
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        System.out.println("Hello World!"); // Display the string.
    }
    
}

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Compile the Source File into a .class File

To compile your source file, choose Build | Build Main Project from the IDE's main menu.

The Output window opens and displays output similar to what you see in the following figure:

Output window showing results of building the HelloWorld project.

Output window showing results of building the HelloWorld project.

If the build output concludes with the statement BUILD SUCCESSFUL, congratulations! You have successfully compiled your program!

If the build output concludes with the statement BUILD FAILED, you probably have a syntax error in your code. Errors are reported in the Output window as hyper-linked text. You double-click such a hyper-link to navigate to the source of an error. You can then fix the error and once again choose Build | Build Main Project.

When you build the project, the bytecode file HelloWorldApp.class is generated. You can see where the new file is generated by opening the Files window and expanding the Hello World App/build/classes/helloworldapp node as shown in the following figure.

Files window, showing the generated .class file.

Files window, showing the generated .class file.

Now that you have built the project, you can run your program.

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Run the Program

From the IDE's menu bar, choose Run | Run Main Project.

The next figure shows what you should now see.

The program prints

The program prints "Hello World!" to the Output window (along with other output from the build script).

Congratulations! Your program works!

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Continuing the Tutorial with the NetBeans IDE

The next few pages of the tutorial will explain the code in this simple application. After that, the lessons go deeper into core language features and provide many more examples. Although the rest of the tutorial does not give specific instructions about using the NetBeans IDE, you can easily use the IDE to write and run the sample code. The following are some tips on using the IDE and explanations of some IDE behavior that you are likely to see:

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