Run code from a string in Java [duplicate]

Question

For debug reasons, I want to be able to run code that is typed in through the console. For example:

BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
while(true){
    String str = br.readLine(); //This can return 'a = 5;','b = "Text";' or 'pckg.example.MyClass.run(5);'
    if(str == null)
        return;
    runCode(str); //How would I do this?
}

Answer 1

PLEASE DON'T ACTUALLY USE THIS

I was under the assumption you wanted to evaluate a string as Java code, not some scripting engine like Javascript, so I created this on a whim after reading this, using the compiler API mark mentioned. It's probably very bad practice but it (somewhat) works like you wanted it to. I doubt it'll be much use in debugging since it runs the code in the context of a new class. Sample usage is included at the bottom.

import javax.tools.JavaCompiler;
import javax.tools.StandardJavaFileManager;
import javax.tools.ToolProvider;
import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.io.PrintWriter;
import java.net.URL;
import java.net.URLClassLoader;
import java.util.Arrays;

public class main {
    public static void runCode(String s) throws Exception{
        JavaCompiler jc = ToolProvider.getSystemJavaCompiler();
        StandardJavaFileManager sjfm = jc.getStandardFileManager(null, null, null);
        File jf = new File("test.java"); //create file in current working directory
        PrintWriter pw = new PrintWriter(jf);
        pw.println("public class test {public static void main(){"+s+"}}");
        pw.close();
        Iterable fO = sjfm.getJavaFileObjects(jf);
        if(!jc.getTask(null,sjfm,null,null,null,fO).call()) { //compile the code
            throw new Exception("compilation failed");
        }
        URL[] urls = new URL[]{new File("").toURI().toURL()}; //use current working directory
        URLClassLoader ucl = new URLClassLoader(urls);
        Object o= ucl.loadClass("test").newInstance();
        o.getClass().getMethod("main").invoke(o);

    }
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
        while(true){
            try {
            String str = br.readLine(); //This can return 'a = 5;','b = "Text";' or 'pckg.example.MyClass.run(5);'
            if(str == null)
                return;

            runCode(str); //How would I do this?
            } catch(Exception e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
            }
        }

    }
}
//command line
>  System.out.println("hello");
hello
>  System.out.println(3+2+3+4+5+2);
19
>  for(int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {System.out.println(i);}
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

With the SimpleJavaFileObject you could actually avoid using a file, as shown here, but the syntax seems a bit cumbersome so I just opted for a file in the current working directory.

EDIT: Convert String to Code offers a similar approach but it's not fully fleshed out