“Error: Main method not found in class MyClass, please define the main method as…”

Question

New Java programmers often encounter these messages when they attempt to run a Java program.

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Error: Main met         


        

Answer 1

Other answers are doing a good job of summarizing the requirements of main. I want to gather references to where those requirements are documented.

The most authoritative source is the VM spec (second edition cited). As main is not a language feature, it is not considered in the Java Language Specification.

• 2.17.1 Execution - Virtual Machine Start-up
• 5.2 Virtual Machine Start-up

Another good resource is the documentation for the application launcher itself:

• java - the Java application launcher