   A college student with a few java questions
  Hello all,Currently i am taking a course in java programming and i had a few questions about it. I have only had 1 day of class and we learned the history and place of java in the programming world. First and foremost is compiling a java program.  I installed the jdk under C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_16.The professor told us to try to compile and run a basic hello world program.  He did not tell us the specific steps besides javac <name of file>.java and then java <name of file>.I went through a lot of trial and error(I know i am thick). I placed my helloworld.java file in this folder even though i don't think i should have. Here is how i compiled and ran helloworld.  I would like advice on a better way.(This is what i did in the command prompt.  He only wants us to use the command prompt and not an ide)>cd C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_16\binjavac helloworld.javajava helloworld"Hello World"Of course this sounds very inefficient typing in cd C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_16\bin and placing my java file in the folder to compile and run it. What is an easier way.  What i want to accomplish is compiling and running the program with out change directory or putting my java file in the folder.  This is what i want to do.> javac helloworld.javajava helloworld"Helloworld"Is this possible?Secondly i want to know from you experts on the issue of java and games.  This is something i always had a passion in and i want to eventually do something in the game industry.  Will several semesters and reading the textbooks be enough for the basics of java games design or will i need to study more to do the basics of java game design.  I am very naive when it comes to programming(only really did the bare basics of vb in high school and my teacher was horrendous ) and the use of languages.Thanks a lot   
  You need to add that directory to your PATH environment variable.   ;  You need to place the path to the necessary Java files and directories into the PATH variable. Go to Start-> Control Panel -> System -> advanced and click on the "environmental variables" button(This may differ depending on the version of windows that you are using). I don't remember off of the top of my head which directories you have to add to the path so you will have to look it up.After that, you can call javac and java from any directory.As to your last question, try to get a good grasp on programming before you look into making games. Once you have a sound foundation, you can make games in almost any language, and there are libraries available to help you.   ;  Hi robertosaget,You need to add the Java bin folder to Windows PATH variable. Basically, when it can't find the program you want to run in the current folder it searches the folders in the PATH var.1. Go to Control Panel then System. (or use Win key + PAUSE/BREAK, a lot faster).2. Advanced -> Environment Variables3. In the System Variables pane search for PATH then edit it.4. Add a ; to the end and add the Java bin folder path, e.g. C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_16 (no spaces between the ; and the folder path).5. And you're done. You might need to restart after it I'm not sure...I am not an expert but I believe Java would be most appropriate for web-based games and mobile ones in the game industry.There is no such thing as Java games design, they are two separate things: Java applications design and game design.Finally, I would recommend you to practice Java creating simple games like a text adventure or whatever you can think of, that way you can learn both at the same time.Best regards,Victor Freire   ;  You might as well set your JAVA_HOME variable as well.   It's used by some programs.   ;  Thanks guys for the help.  javac and java can be called from anywhere.  Thanks;  You're not using an IDE? I know people say that knowing your way around a command line interface is a good thing, and it is, but it is also slow and annoying.Try out JCreator, fairly easy to setup and get running, push a button to compile and test your program. Plus you get useful things like syntax highlighting and tabs for each source file you have open.I've found it to be one of the best light weight IDEs out there. While not as full featured as a few others, it has a better startup time.   