- steps to execute program
- require more specifics to actually do in particular development tool
- type in program and save to file
  - use <main class name>.java for filename
  - result: "source file"
- compile source file
  - may need to place source in project and compile that
  - bytecode file
    - file containing bytecode
    - bytecode: compiled version of code
    - suffix: .class instead of .java
  - compilation error
    - compiler displays msg if finds syntax error
    - easiest to correct
- execute bytecode
  - bytecode system independent
  - execute on interpreter
    - is system dependent
    - aka Java Virtual Machine (JVM)
  - must have specialized interpreter for each system
  - execution errors detected by interpreter