How to run java program with multiple jars and multiple classes with cmd or terminal?

Question

This is what I have tried so far to compile

javac -d bin -cp "lib/*" src/*.java

This seems to compile everything correctly, the problem is when I try running. This what I tried

cd bin
java -cp "lib/*" App <arguments>
java -cp "../lib/*" App <arguments>

or from root directory

java -cp "lib/*" bin/App

I have tried multiple suggestions that I found online but none of them work. The error that I always get is

ClassNotFoundException

can someone please help me run this?

Answer 1

You have to include the bin directory in your classpath.

If you are inside the bin directory then you can use ".":

java -cp ".:../lib/*" App <arguments>

In Linux/Unix the classpath separator is ":", but in Windows it is ";".

Or if you are in the parent directory (where bin and lib directories are):

java -cp "bin:lib/*" App <arguments>