[Bluej-discuss] bluej-discuss Digest, Vol 40, Issue 13

[Stephen Bloch]

Chris Share wrote:
>  > I'm new to BlueJ. I'm a C programmer using Java/BlueJ for some 
>>  prototyping.
>>
>>  I was wondering if there was a way to run a project's main method 
>>  using
>>  key commands?

to which Todd O'Bryan replied with various helpful tips, and Chris replied:
>Thanks, I was hoping for a key command like F5...
>
>Also, it's a pain to have to set the args each time.

It occurs to me that for prototyping purposes, Chris may not need a 
"main" method at all.  One of BlueJ's nicest features is the ability 
to invoke ANY method directly, either from the CodePad or with the 
mouse.

So if you want to test a whole app that doesn't care about 
command-line arguments, write a static method that takes no arguments 
and does all the work, and invoke it directly (without worrying about 
setting args, since there are none).  Once the program is tested and 
debugged and you need to deliver it to non-BlueJ-users, add a "public 
static void main(String[] args)" method that just calls your previous 
method.

Even better, if you want to test only a part of the program, you can 
do that by calling the method in question directly, rather than 
writing a main method that calls it.

-- 
							Stephen Bloch
							Math/CS Dept
 
Adelphi University
 
sbloch at adelphi.edu