Package in

Package
Introduction
Package in Java is a mechanism to encapsulate a group of classes, sub packages and interfaces.
Packages are used for:
• Preventing naming conflicts. For example there can be two classes with name Employee in
two packages, college.staff.cse.Employee and college.staff.ee.Employee
• Making searching/locating and usage of classes, interfaces, enumerations and annotations
easier
• Providing controlled access: protected and default have package level access control. A
protected member is accessible by classes in the same package and its subclasses. A default
member (without any access specifier) is accessible by classes in the same package only.
• Packages can be considered as data encapsulation (or data-hiding).
All we need to do is put related classes into packages. After that, we can simply write an import
class from existing packages and use it in our program. A package is a container of a group of
related classes where some of the classes are accessible are exposed and others are kept for
internal purpose.
We can reuse existing classes from the packages as many time as we need it in our program.
Java Packages are classified into two types. First is known as Java API packages and second is
known as user defined packsges.
JAVA API Packages
Java APl(Application Program Interface) provides a large numbers of classes grouped into
different packages according to functionality. Most of the time we use the packages available with
the the Java API. Following figure shows the system packages that are frequently used in the
programs.
Java System Packages and Their Classes
java.lang Language support classes. They include classes for primitive types, string, math functions, thread
and exceptions.
java.util Language utility classes such as vectors, hash tables, random numbers, data, etc.
java.io Input/output support classes. They provide facilities for the input and output of data.
java.applet Classes for creating and implementing applets.
java.net Classes for networking. They include classes for communicating with local computers as well as
with internet servers.
java.awt Set of classes for implementing graphical user interface. They include classes for windows,
buttons, lists, menus and so on.
Using System Packages

The packsges are organizes in a hierarchical structure as shown in figure below. This shows that
the package named java contains the package awt , which in turn contains various classes
required for implementing graphical user interface.
Java
awt
Color
Graphics
Font
.
.
.
Image
Fig. Hierarchical representation of java.awt package

There are two ways of accessing the classes stored in a package.
First approach is done by using the package name that containing class and then appending the
class name to it using the dot operator.
Java.awt.Color
Here awt is Package within the package java and Color is class name.
We use the class in number of programs or use many classes contained in the package.
Syntax.
import packagename.classname;
Or
import packagename.*;
These are known as import statements and used at the top of the program file.
import java.awt.Color;
it import the class Color and the classname can be directly used in the program.
import java.awt.*;
It will bring all the classes of java.awt package.
Naming Conventions
Packages can be named using the standard java naming rules.

By convention , packages begin with lowercase letters.This makes it easy for users to distinguish
packsge names from class names.
By convention , all class names begin with an uppercase letters.
Ex.
double y = java.lang.Math.sqrt(x);
lang – package name
Math – class name
Sqrt() – method name
This statement uses a only class name Math to invoke the method sqrt().
Creating Packages
To create our own package , we must first declare the name of package using the package
keyword followed by a package name. This must be first statement in a java source file.
Then we define a class , just as we normally defined a class.
Ex.
Package firstpackage;
Public class FirstClass
{
…….
……. ( Body of class )
}
Here package name is firstPackage.
The class FirstClass is now considered a part of this package.
This file is saved as FirstClass.java and located in a directory named firstPackage. When the
source file is compiled , java will create a .class file and store it in the same directory.
To create our own package following steps are there.
1. Declare the package at the beginning of a file using the form
package packagename;
2. Define the class that is to be put in the package and declare it public.
3. Create a subdirectory under the directory where the main source files are stored.
4. Store the programs as classname.java file in the subdirectory created.
5. Compile the file . This creates .class file in subdirectory.
Remember that name of the package must be same as the directory under which this file is saved.
Accessing a Package
Java system packages can be accessed by using import statement.

Same approach is used to access the user defined packages as well.
Ex.
import packagename.*;
here the package name may denote a single package or a hierarchy of packages. The star (*)
indicates the entire package hierarchy.
import firstPackage.secondPackage.MyClass ;
by the use of this statement ,all the members of the class MyClass can be directly accessed using
the class name .
Using a Package
We consider a simple program for use classes from other packages.

The listing below shows a package named package1 containing a single ClassA.
package package1 ;
public class ClassA
{
public void displayA( )
{
System.out.println(“ Class A” );
}
}
This file ClassA.java and stored in the subdirectory package1.Now compile this java file.The
resultant ClassA.class will be store in the same subdirectory.
Now consider the program
import package.ClassA ;
class PackageTest
{
Public static void main(String args[ ])
{
ClassA obj = new ClassA( ) ;
Obj.displayA( ) ;
}
}
This program that imports the class ClassA from the package package1. The file is saved as
PackageTest.java and then compiled. The source file and the compiled file would be saved in the
directory of which package1 was a subdirectory. Now we can run the program and obtain the
results.
Adding a Class to a Package
It is simple to add a class to an existing package. Consider the following package :

package p1
public Class A
{
// body of A
}
The package p1 contains one public class by name A. Suppose we want to add another class B to
this package. This can be done as follows :
1. Define the class and make it public.
2. Place the package statement
Package p1 ;
Before the class definition as follows :
Package p1
Public Class B
{
// body of B
}
3. Store this as B.java file under the directory p1.
4. Compile B.java file. This will create a B.class file and place it in the directory p1.
Now , the package p1 will contain both the classes A and B . The statement like
import p1. * ;
will import both of them.
***********

Package in

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Package in

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Package in

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Package

JAVA API Packages

java.applet Classes for creating and implementing applets.

Using System Packages

Fig. Hierarchical representation of java.awt package

Packages can be named using the standard java naming rules.

Java system packages can be accessed by using import statement.

We consider a simple program for use classes from other packages.

Adding a Class to a Package

It is simple to add a class to an existing package. Consider the following package :

You might also like