Confused about CLASSPATH and how java handles import statements...

Question

Hello,
I must admit I don't get it. I read the articles about setting CLASSPATH etc. but I still wonder:
If you use an import statement, what does the compiler do? I.e. where does it look for the specified classes? I find it confusing because I see in different locations different .jar files:
C:\jdk1.3.1_03\lib\dt.jar
C:\jdk1.3.1_03\lib\htmlconvertor.jar
C:\jdk1.3.1_03\lib\tools.jar
and also
C:\jdk1.3.1_03\jre\lib\i18n.jar
C:\jdk1.3.1_03\jre\lib\rt.jar
C:\jdk1.3.1_03\jre\lib\jaws.jar
C:\jdk1.3.1_03\jre\lib\sunrassign.jar
Can someone explain me what the purpose is of these files?
And why do I have the same contents in
C:\Program Files\JavaSoft\JRE\1.3.1_03\lib
and in
C:\jdk1.3.1_03\jre\lib
Why is that?
Thanks for answering my questions!
-mike

Answer 1

Thanx for the answers, but I still wonder, everyone
here says I need to set the classpath, but I don't.Probably because your classes are already in the class path. The compiler/jvm also look for classes by themselves not just in jar files, when just a directory is supplied in the class path. And a period (".") is a valid directory.
Programs importing different classes compile with no
problem. So what's up with that?
Presumably you are referring to your own code - because they are in the class path.
Second, I still don't understand why the runtime needs
the .jar files. The runtime uses classes, like String, that have to come from somewhere.
This would also mean that end-users
need to set the classpath to the .jar files in their
JRE directory to be able to run programs that import
classes from these .jars. But this is not true, right?No it is true. The end-users will have to set the class path. There are variations on this which make it seem like no class path is set. For instance applets in a browser are java but the end-user does not need to set a class path. That is because the browser knows how to download classes/jars and how to set it up so it uses them. (Actually it uses a class loader, but that is probably more information that you need.)
Because if I make some nice classes myself and import
them, how can I expect my end-user to install these
classes and make a classpath for them?That would be between you and you end-user.
First installation is not part of java. For installation you will have to find something outside of java to accomplish the goal.
Additionally how the class path gets set is OS specific. Java does not deal with that. You will also have to find some way to deal with this (most likely part of the installation.)
There are also variations on this. For example the browser example I gave above. Or using the ext directory. Or creating an executable jar. Or simply setting the class path.
In my understanding it should only be needed in the JDK, not
in the JRE. True or am I mistaken?Mistaken. The class path is needed in the JRE as well. You will need to set it.