Vscode-java: how to make add classpath directly?

[ColinTree]

i got a dir of well structured source code, and it keep noticing no classpath founded.

so i m thinking of, what should i do to make the whole thing like a readable project for vscode..
such as adding a .classpath file?
i tried but fail (it does not work at all..):

what should i do?

[gorkem]

vscode-java depends on Java build tools (namely maven and gradle) to recognize the classpath. I do not recommend .classpath as a way to manage the classpath. Does your project have maven or gradle already? What do you mean by well structured code?

[ColinTree]

the files are like this, matches most the file needed in the sources, and the rest can be includes from lib.
(well, it is the code here: https://github.com/ColinTree/appinventor-sources/tree/master/appinventor/components/src/)

[snjeza]

@ColinTree you can try to add the following .classpath and .project:

.project

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<projectDescription>
    <name>appinventor-components</name>
    <comment></comment>
    <projects>
    </projects>
    <buildSpec>
        <buildCommand>
            <name>org.eclipse.jdt.core.javabuilder</name>
            <arguments>
            </arguments>
        </buildCommand>
    </buildSpec>
    <natures>
        <nature>org.eclipse.jdt.core.javanature</nature>
    </natures>
</projectDescription>

.classpath

<classpath>
    <classpathentry kind="con" path="org.eclipse.jdt.launching.JRE_CONTAINER/org.eclipse.jdt.internal.debug.ui.launcher.StandardVMType/JavaSE-1.8"/>
    <classpathentry kind="src" path="src"/>
    <classpathentry kind="output" path="bin"/>
</classpath>

to https://github.com/ColinTree/appinventor-sources/tree/master/appinventor/components

[AlexLeung]

Not all java projects use maven or gradle.

[dleuck]

+1 @AlexLeung - It would be very helpful, and more in the spirit of VS Code, if you supported adding a classpath with a simple setting rather than requiring Maven or Gradle.

[gorkem]

Java does not have an accepted way to define a project like package.json. We sure can invent a .json file that lists the jar files. The solution would be vscode-java specific and would not be portable to any other IDEs. I bet that in a few days after we release such a feature we would be asked for a way to build and package the project.
OTOH, a maven or gradle file on a project is good practice. They are portable among all the leading Java IDEs, they help build, test projects and can be used on CI systems.
I think our time is better spend if we try to improve the usability and make it easier working with maven artifacts instead trying to solve the already solved problem of dependency and build management of Java projects.

[AlexLeung]

It would be very helpful, and more in the spirit of VS Code, if you supported adding a classpath with a simple setting rather than requiring Maven or Gradle.

@gorkem nobody is asking for the invention of a new .json file format unique to vscode-java. Perhaps vscode-java could just have a way to generate and add to .classpath and .project files. This way small java projects could be created quickly in VSCode with minimal configuration without needing to interface with any other tools.

[nyetwurk]

Sigh.

[yaohaizh]

For simple project, you can use this extension to quick create an app. https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=vscjava.vscode-java-dependency