Creating a Java Source Program

We will use the "Notepad" editor that comes with Microsoft Windows operating systems. I am using Notepad here because everyone has it and can use it to get started. After you see how things work using Notepad, you should find a better text editor to use. The goal is to create a text file called Hello.java containing the characters below:

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

On an Intel-based computer running Windows, first start up the DOS command prompt. One way to do this is to click on the "Start" button in the lower right of your screen. You should now see a menu of choices similar to below. Look for the "MS DOS" Icon:

The more recent the Windows system, the harder it is to find the command prompt. If you don't see it at first, click on "Programs" and look futher. When you find it, click on the "MS DOS" icon to start a command interpreter window.