Does every program in Java need a class?

Is this always the case?

Solution

Yes, you need at least one class to have a program, but no, you don't need any method (contrary to some other answers)

The reason you need a class is because in Java, all the code is in the class So to have any code, you need a class However, the code does not necessarily need to be in a method It can also be in the initializer Therefore, this is a complete Java program without methods:

class LookMaNoMethods {
    static {
        System.out.println("Hello,world!");
        System.exit(0);
    }
}

This gives

$javac LookMaNoMethods.java 
$java LookMaNoMethods 
Hello,world!
$

Edit: the code from Java 7 has only static blocks without main method, and will not produce any output The main method is now mandatory Code without the main method can be compiled successfully