MODULE 4

Packages and Exceptions

Chapter 9&10
 Packages 2

 Packages are containers for classes that are used to keep the class name space
compartmentalized.

 Packages help in organizing large codebases by providing a way to group

related classes and interfaces together.

 They also help in avoiding naming conflicts between classes and interfaces
with the same name but defined in different packages.

 For example, a package allows you to create a class named List, which you can
store in your own package without concern that it will collide with some other
class named List stored elsewhere.

 Packages are stored in a hierarchical manner and

are explicitly imported into new class definitions.
 3

 A Package is a collection of related classes.

 It helps organize your classes into a folder structure and make

it easy to locate and use them.

 More importantly, it helps improve re-usability.

 Each package in Java has its unique name and organizes its
classes and interfaces into a separate namespace, or name group
 4

•A java package is a group of similar types of classes, interfaces

and sub-packages.
•Package in java can be categorized in two form, built-in package
and user-defined package.
•There are many built-in packages such as java, lang, awt, javax,
swing, net, io, util, sql etc.
5
 Defining a Package 6

 To create a package is quite easy: simply include a package

command as the first statement in a Java source file.

 Any classes declared within that file will belong to the specified
package.

 The package statement defines a name space in which classes are

stored.

 If you omit the package statement, the class names are put into the
default package, which has no name.
 7

Contd..
• This is the general form of the package statement:

Syntax: package pkg;

Ex: package MyPackage;

Demo.java
package MyPackage;
Java uses file system directories to store
packages class exp{
}

class Demo{
public static void main(String args[]){
…
}
}
 8

Contd..
Java uses file system directories to store packages

Demo.java
package MyPackage;

class exp{
} Try.java
package MyPackage;
class Demo{
public static void main(String args[]){ class xyz{
… }
}
} class Try{
public static void main(String a
…
}
}
 9

Contd..
• You can create a hierarchy of packages. To do so, simply separate
each package name from the one above it by use of a period.
• The general form of a multileveled package statement
is shown here:

package pkg1[.pkg2[.pkg3]];

Cannot rename a package without renaming directories

Finding Packages and CLASSPATH

 packages are mirrored by directories.

 This raises an important question: How does the Java run-time
system know where to look for packages that you create?
The answer has three parts.
1. First, by default, the Java run-time system uses the current
working directory as its starting point. Thus, if your package is in
a subdirectory of the current directory, it will be found.
2. Second, you can specify a directory path or paths by setting the
CLASSPATH environmental variable.
3. Third, you can use the -classpath option with java and javac to
specify the path to your classes.
 Find Packages & Classpath 11

Eg. package MyPack;

 How does the java run time know where to look for the packages
you create
1. Current working directory
• C:\MyPrograms\Java\Mypack
• Here Program can be executed from a directory above MyPack
2. Specify a directory path by setting CLASSPATH
environmental variable
• C:\MyPrograms\Java
3. Use –classpath option with java and javac to specify paths to
classes
• C:\MyPrograms\Java
12
 Example
package MyPack; 13

class Balance
class AccountBalance {
{ public static void main(String args[])
String name;
double bal;
{
Balance(String n, double b) Balance current[] = new Balance[3];
current[0] = new Balance("Fielding", 12.23);
{ current[1] = new Balance("Will", 157.02);
name = n; current[2] = new Balance("Tom ", -12.33);
bal = b; for(int i=0; i<3; i++)
}
void show() current[i].show();
}
{ }
if(bal<0)
System.out.print("--> ");
System.out.println(name + ": $" +
bal);
}
}
 14

 Call this file AccountBalance.java and put it in a directory

called MyPack.
 Executes AccountBalance class using
 java Mypack.AccountBalance
 Java directory must above MyPack
 java AccountBalance cannot use, it should be qualified with its
package name.
 Access Protection
15

 Packages add another dimension to access control.

Class Member
Access
 18

//file name Protection.java

package p1;

}
 19

//file name Derived.java

package p1;

}
 20

// file name SamePackage.java

Package p1;

}
 To test file for package p1

// Demo package p1.

package p1;
// Instantiate the various classes in p1.
public class Demo {
public static void main(String args[])
{
Protection ob1 = new Protection();
Derived ob2 = new Derived();
SamePackage ob3 = new SamePackage();
}
}
Creating these files, Compiling and executing

– Create a folder named P1

– Navigate to P1
– Create Protection.java mentioning package as P1
– Create Derived.java mentioning package as P1
– Create SamePackage.java mentioning package as P1
– Create Demo.java mentioning package as P1.
– Move the parent directory of P1 (cd ..)
– Compile all the files as javac P1/*.java
– Run the file as java -classpath /root P1.Demo
 23

//file name Protection2.java

package p2;
 24

//file name Otherpackage.java

package p2;
To test file for package p2

// Demo package P2.

package P2;
// Instantiate the various classes in p2.
public class Demo {
public static void main(String args[]) {
Protection2 ob1 = new Protection2();
OtherPackage ob2 = new OtherPackage();
}
}
Creating these files, Compiling and executing

– Create a folder named P2

– Navigate to P2
– Create Protection2.java mentioning package as P2
– Create OtherPackage.java mentioning package as P2
– Create Demo.java mentioning package as P2.
– Move the parent directory of P2(cd ..)
– Compile all the files as javac P2/*.java
– Run the file as java -classpath /root P2.Demo
 27

Importing Packages
 Since classes within packages must be fully qualified with their
package name or names, it could become tedious to type in the
long dot-separated package path name for every class you want to
use.
 Java includes the import statement to bring certain classes, or
entire packages, into visibility. Once imported, a class can be
referred to directly, using only its name.
 In a Java source file, import statements occur immediately
following the package statement (if it exists) and before any class
definitions.
 Importing Packages
• the import statement is optional.
• Any place you use a class name, you can use its
fully qualified name, which includes its full package
hierarchy.
• example, this fragment uses an import statement:
import java.util.*;
class MyDate extends Date {
}

• The same example without the import statement

looks like this:
class MyDate extends java.util.Date { }
2
9
import mypack.*;
class TestBalance {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Balance test = new Balance("J. J. Jaspers", 99.88);
test.show(); // you may also call show()
}
}