jdk.jshell (Java SE 26 & JDK 26)
Description: declaration: module: jdk.jshell, package: jdk.jshell
Keywords: jdk.jshell package

# Package jdk.jshell

package jdk.jshell
Provides interfaces for creating tools, such as a Read-Eval-Print Loop (REPL), which interactively evaluate "snippets" of Java programming language code. Where a "snippet" is a single expression, statement, or declaration. This functionality can be used to enhance tools such as IDEs or can be stand-alone.

`JShell` is the central class. An instance of `JShell` holds the evaluation state, which is both the current set of source snippets and the execution state they have produced.

Each source snippet is represented by an instance of a subclass of `Snippet`. For example, a statement is represented by an instance of `StatementSnippet`, and a method declaration is represented by an instance of `MethodSnippet`. Snippets are created when `JShell.eval(String)` is invoked with an input which includes one or more snippets of code.

Any change to the compilation status of a snippet is reported with a `SnippetEvent`. There are three major kinds of changes to the status of a snippet: it can be created with `eval`, it can be dropped from the active source state with `JShell.drop(jdk.jshell.Snippet)`, and it can have its status updated as a result of a status change in another snippet. For example: given `js`, an instance of `JShell`, executing `js.eval("int x = 5;")` will add the variable `x` to the source state and will generate an event describing the creation of a `VarSnippet` for `x`. Then executing `js.eval("int timesx(int val) { return val * x; }")` will add a method to the source state and will generate an event describing the creation of a `MethodSnippet` for `timesx`. Assume that `varx` holds the snippet created by the first call to `eval`, executing `js.drop(varx)` will generate two events: one for changing the status of the variable snippet to `DROPPED` and one for updating the method snippet (which now has an unresolved reference to `x`).

Of course, for any general application of the API, the input would not be fixed strings, but would come from the user. Below is a very simplified example of how the API might be used to implement a REPL.

        import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
        import java.io.Console;
        import java.util.List;
        import jdk.jshell.*;
        import jdk.jshell.Snippet.Status;

        class ExampleJShell {
            public static void main(String[] args) {
                Console console = System.console();
                try (JShell js = JShell.create()) {
                    do {
                        System.out.print("Enter some Java code: ");
                        String input = console.readLine();
                        if (input == null) {
                            break;
                        }
                        List<SnippetEvent> events = js.eval(input);
                        for (SnippetEvent e : events) {
                            StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
                            if (e.causeSnippet() == null) {
                                //  We have a snippet creation event
                                switch (e.status()) {
                                    case VALID:
                                        sb.append("Successful ");
                                        break;
                                    case RECOVERABLE_DEFINED:
                                        sb.append("With unresolved references ");
                                        break;
                                    case RECOVERABLE_NOT_DEFINED:
                                        sb.append("Possibly reparable, failed  ");
                                        break;
                                    case REJECTED:
                                        sb.append("Failed ");
                                        break;
                                }
                                if (e.previousStatus() == Status.NONEXISTENT) {
                                    sb.append("addition");
                                } else {
                                    sb.append("modification");
                                }
                                sb.append(" of ");
                                sb.append(e.snippet().source());
                                System.out.println(sb);
                                if (e.value() != null) {
                                    System.out.printf("Value is: %s\n", e.value());
                                }
                                System.out.flush();
                            }
                        }
                    } while (true);
                }
                System.out.println("\nGoodbye");
            }
        }

To register for status change events use `JShell.onSnippetEvent(java.util.function.Consumer)`. These events are only generated by `eval` and `drop`, the return values of these methods are the list of events generated by that call. So, as in the example above, events can be used without registering to receive events.

If you experiment with this example, you will see that failing to terminate a statement or variable declaration with a semi-colon will simply fail. An unfinished entry (for example a desired multi-line method) will also just fail after one line. The utilities in `SourceCodeAnalysis` provide source boundary and completeness analysis to address cases like those. `SourceCodeAnalysis` also provides suggested completions of input, as might be used in tab-completion.

Since:
  9

- Related Packages
  Package
  Description
  jdk.jshell.execution
  Provides implementation support for building JShell execution engines.
  jdk.jshell.spi
  Defines the Service Provider Interface for pluggable JShell execution engines.
  jdk.jshell.tool
  Provides a mechanism to launch an instance of a Java shell tool.
- Class
  Description
  DeclarationSnippet
  Grouping for all declaration Snippets: variable declarations (`VarSnippet`), method declarations (`MethodSnippet`), and type declarations (`TypeDeclSnippet`).
  Diag
  Diagnostic information for a Snippet.
  ErroneousSnippet
  A snippet of code that is not valid Java programming language code.
  EvalException
  Wraps an throwable thrown in the executing client.
  ExpressionSnippet
  Snippet for an assignment or variable-value expression.
  ImportSnippet
  Snippet for an import declaration.
  JShell
  The JShell evaluation state engine.
  JShell.Builder
  Builder for `JShell` instances.
  JShellConsole
  An interface providing functionality for `Console` in the user's snippet.
  JShellException
  The superclass of JShell generated exceptions
  MethodSnippet
  Snippet for a method definition.
  PersistentSnippet
  Grouping for Snippets which persist and influence future code.
  Snippet
  A Snippet represents a snippet of Java source code as passed to `JShell.eval(java.lang.String)`.
  Snippet.Kind
  Describes the general kind of snippet.
  Snippet.Status
  Describes the current state of a Snippet.
  Snippet.SubKind
  The detailed variety of a snippet.
  SnippetEvent
  A description of a change to a Snippet.
  SourceCodeAnalysis
  Provides analysis utilities for source code input.
  SourceCodeAnalysis.Attribute
  A span attribute which can be used to derive a coloring.
  SourceCodeAnalysis.Completeness
  Describes the completeness of the given input.
  SourceCodeAnalysis.CompletionContext
  Various flags describing the context in which the completion happens.
  SourceCodeAnalysis.CompletionInfo
  The result of `analyzeCompletion(String input)`.
  SourceCodeAnalysis.CompletionState
  Permit access to completion state.
  SourceCodeAnalysis.Documentation
  A documentation for a candidate for continuation of the given user's input.
  SourceCodeAnalysis.ElementSuggestion
  A description of an Element that is a possible continuation of a given snippet.
  SourceCodeAnalysis.ElementSuggestionConvertor<S>
  A convertor from a list of SourceCodeAnalysis.ElementSuggestion to a list of custom target completion items.
  SourceCodeAnalysis.Highlight
  Assigns attributes usable for coloring to spans inside a snippet.
  SourceCodeAnalysis.QualifiedNames
  List of possible qualified names.
  SourceCodeAnalysis.SnippetWrapper
  The wrapping of a snippet of Java source into valid top-level Java source.
  SourceCodeAnalysis.Suggestion
  A candidate for continuation of the given user's input.
  StatementSnippet
  Snippet for a statement.
  TypeDeclSnippet
  Snippet for a type definition (a class, interface, enum, or annotation interface definition).
  UnresolvedReferenceException
  Exception reported on attempting to execute a `RECOVERABLE_DEFINED` snippet.
  VarSnippet
  Snippet for a variable definition.