Static Block and main() Method in Java

Replacing 'public' with 'private' in "main" in Java

Last Updated : 21 Aug, 2018

Consider following Java program:

Java

class GFG {
    public static void main(String args[])
    {
        System.out.println("GeeksforGeeks");
    }
}

GeeksforGeeks

Explanation: 1)public: It is an access specifier which allows the JVM(Java Virtual Machine) to access the main method from anywhere. 2)static: static keyword allows the JVM to access the main method without any instance(object). 3)void: It specifies that the main method doesn't return anything. 4)main: name of the method(function) configured in JVM. 5)String args[]: Command line arguments. Now, if we replace 'public' with 'private' in "public static void main", the above code becomes:

Java

class GFG {
    private static void main(String args[])
    {
        System.out.println("GeeksforGeeks");
    }
}

Explanation: The above code will be compiled successfully, but will throw a runtime error as follows:

Error: Main method not found in class GFG, please define the main method as:
   public static void main(String[] args)
or a JavaFX application class must extend javafx.application.Application

Click to view output Reason: Since the access specifier was changed from "public" to "private" JVM was unable to access/locate the main method.

Static Block and main() Method in Java

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ShraddhaVarat

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