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Is it possible to write a program in Java without main() using JDK 1.7 or higher?

The following program will print Hello world when compiled with JDK 1.6 or lower versions of JDK.

    public class A
    {
      static
      {
        System.out.println("Hello world");
        System.exit(0);
      }
    }

But JDK 1.7 or higher versions will generate a runtime error as follows when the above program is compiled.

    Error: Main method not found in class A, please define the main method as:
       public static void main(String[] args)
    or a JavaFX application class must extend javafx.application.Application

I would like to know if there is some way to compile and run a program without main() successfully in Java using JDK 1.7 or higher.

Thanks in advance.

Solution

  • No. public static void main(String[] args) is the main entry for all Java applications. There are frameworks that makes you believe there's no need of this method, like a unit test executed by JUnit, but the fact is that the framework has a main method defined somewhere inside it, does the necessary calls for you and ends calling your code.