1.
To put a class into a package, at the first line of code
define package p1
What is Package in Java? 2. Create a class c1
3. Defining a method m1 which prints a line.
PACKAGE in Java is a collection of classes, sub-packages, and 4. Defining the main method
interfaces. It helps organize your classes into a folder structure 5. Creating an object of class c1
and make it easy to locate and use them. More importantly, it 6. Calling method m1
helps improve code reusability.
Each package in Java has its unique name and organizes its
classes and interfaces into a separate namespace, or name group. Step 2) In next step, save this file as demo.java
Although interfaces and classes with the same name cannot
appear in the same package, they can appear in different
packages. This is possible by assigning a separate namespace to
each Java package.
Syntax:-
package nameOfPackage;
The following video takes you through the steps of creating a
package.
Click here if the video is not accessible
Let’s study package with an example. We define a class and
object and later compile this it in our package p1. After
compilation, we execute the code as a java package.
How to Create a package?
Creating a package is a simple task as follows
• Choose the name of the package
• Include the package command as the first line of code
in your Java Source File.
• The Source file contains the classes, interfaces, etc
you want to include in the package
• Compile to create the Java packages
Step 3) In this step, we compile the file.
Step 1) Consider the following package program in Java:
package p1;
class c1(){
public void m1(){
System.out.println("m1 of c1"); The compilation is completed. A class file c1 is created. However,
} no package is created? Next step has the solution
public static void main(string args[]){
c1 obj = new c1();
obj.m1();
}
}
Step 4) Now we have to create a package, use the command
javac –d . demo.java
This command forces the compiler to create a package.
The “.” operator represents the current working directory.
Here,
Step 5) When you execute the code, it creates a package p1.
When you open the java package p1 inside you will see the
c1.class file.
Step 9) To execute the code mention the fully qualified name of
the class i.e. the package name followed by the sub-package name
followed by the class name –
java p1.p2.c1
Step 6) Compile the same file using the following code
javac –d .. demo.java
Here “..” indicates the parent directory. In our case file will be
saved in parent directory which is C Drive
This is how the package is executed and gives the output as “m1
of c1” from the code file.
File saved in parent directory when above code is executed.
How to Import Package
To create an object of a class (bundled in a package), in your code,
you have to use its fully qualified name.
Step 7) Now let’s say you want to create a sub package p2 within
Example:
our existing java package p1. Then we will modify our code as
java.awt.event.actionListner object = new
package p1.p2;
java.awt.event.actionListner();
But, it could become tedious to type the long dot-separated
class c1{
package path name for every class you want to use. Instead, it is
public void m1() {
recommended you use the import statement.
System.out.println("m1 of c1");
}
} Syntax
import packageName;
Once imported, you can use the class without mentioning its fully
qualified name.
import java.awt.event.*; // * signifies all classes in this package
are imported
import javax.swing.JFrame // here only the JFrame class is
imported
//Usage
Step 8) Compile the file JFrame f = new JFrame; // without fully qualified name.
Example: To import package
Step 1) Copy the code into an editor.
package p3;
import p1.*; //imports classes only in package p1 and NOT in the
As seen in below screenshot, it creates a sub-package p2 having sub-package p2
class c1 inside the package. class c3{
public void m3(){
System.out.println("Method m3 of Class c3");
}
public static void main(String args[]){
c1 obj1 = new c1();
obj1.m1();
}
}
Step 2) Save the file as Demo2.java. Compile the file using the
command javac –d . Demo2.java
Step 3)Execute the code using the command java p3.c3
Packages – points to note:
• To avoid naming conflicts packages are given names
of the domain name of the company in reverse Ex:
com.guru99. com.microsoft, com.infosys etc.
• When a package name is not specified, a class is in the
default package (the current working directory) and
the package itself is given no name. Hence you were
able to execute assignments earlier.
• While creating a package, care should be taken that
the statement for creating package must be written
before any other import statements
// not allowed
import package p1.*;
package p3;
//correct syntax
package p3;
import package p1.*;
the java.lang package is imported by default for any class that
you create in Java.
The Java API is very extensive, contains classes which can
perform almost all your programming tasks right from Data
Structure Manipulation to Networking. More often than not, you
will be using API files in your code. You can see the API
documentation here.
