Starting JShell

Before trying to start JShell, make sure your JAVA_HOME environment variable points to a JDK 9 installation. To start JShell, run the following command:

$ jshell

If all goes well, you should see a jshell> prompt.

Exiting JShell

To exit JShell, run the following command from the JShell prompt:

jshell> /exit

Within JShell, you can evaluate Java expressions, with or without semicolons. These can range from basic expressions and statements to more complex ones:

jshell> 4+2
jshell> System.out.printf("I am %d years old.\n", 421)

Loops and conditionals are fine, too:

jshell> for (int i = 0; i<3; i++) {
   ...> System.out.println(i);
   ...> }

It is important to note that expressions within blocks must have semicolons!

You can declare local variables within JShell:

jshell> String s = "hi"
jshell> int i = s.length

Keep in mind that variables can be redeclared with different types; this is perfectly valid in JShell:

jshell> String var = "hi"
jshell> int var = 3

To see a list of variables, enter /vars at the JShell prompt.

You can define methods and classes within JShell:

jshell> void speak() {
   ...> System.out.println("hello");
   ...> }

jshell> class MyClass {
   ...> void doNothing() {}
   ...> }

No access modifiers are necessary. As with other blocks, semicolons are required inside of method bodies. Keep in mind that, as with variables, it is possible to redefine methods and classes. To see a list of methods or classes, enter /methods or /types at the JShell prompt, respectively.

The basic unit of code used by JShell is the snippet, or source entry. Every time you declare a local variable or define a local method or class, you create a snippet whose name is the identifier of the variable/method/class. At any time, you can edit a snippet you have created with the /edit command. For example, let's say I have created the class Foo with a single, method, bar:

jshell> class Foo {
   ...> void bar() {
   ...> }
   ...> }

Now, I want to fill in the body of my method. Rather than rewrite the entire class, I can edit it:

jshell> /edit Foo

By default, a swing editor will pop up with the most basic features possible. However you can change the editor that JShell uses:

jshell> /set editor emacs
jshell> /set editor vi
jshell> /set editor nano
jshell> /set editor -default

Note that if the new version of the snippet contains any syntax errors, it may not be saved. Likewise, a snippet is only created if the original declaration/definition is syntactically correct; the following does not work:

jshell> String st = String 3
//error omitted
jshell> /edit st
|  No such snippet: st

However, snippets may be compiled and hence editable despite certain compile-time errors, such as mismatched types—the following works:

jshell> int i = "hello"
//error omitted
jshell> /edit i

Finally, snippets may be deleted using the /drop command:

jshell> int i = 13
jshell> /drop i
jshell> System.out.println(i)
|  Error:
|  cannot find symbol
|    symbol:   variable i
|  System.out.println(i)
|

To delete all snippets, thereby reseting the state of the JVM, use \reset:

jshell> int i = 2

jshell> String s = "hi"

jshell> /reset
|  Resetting state.

jshell> i
|  Error:
|  cannot find symbol
|    symbol:   variable i
|  i
|  ^

jshell> s
|  Error:
|  cannot find symbol
|    symbol:   variable s
|  s
|  ^