Creating a Java Source Program

We will use the Notepad editor that comes with Microsoft Windows operating systems. Notepad is simple to use and good for getting started. After you see how things work using Notepad, you should move on to a better text editor. For now, our goal is to create a text file called Hello.java containing these characters:

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

On a Windows computer, first start up the command prompt. Look for the "Command Prompt" icon. Click on the "Start" button in the lower left of your screen. Then click "All Programs" and the "Accessories". You should now see a menu of choices similar to below.

Recent Windows operating systems will add the Command Prompt icon to the first start menu once you have used it. The more recent the Windows system, the harder it is to find the command prompt. When you find it, click on the "Command Prompt" icon to start a command interpreter window.