Visual Studio Code, Java Extension, howto add jar to classpath

Question

In Eclipse IDE, I add a JAR library using

Project > Build Path > Configure Build Path...

What is the equivalent in VisualStudioCode?

I had a look into launch.json. There is a classpath defined. Adding JARs to this classpath (array) variable seems to have no effect.

Essentially, this is a duplicate question of Visual Studio Java Language Support add jar.
But that question is unanswered.

This is such an extremely basic question, that I really don't understand not to find a solution for it in Microsoft's documentation or via Google search.

Answer 1

Update for latest version

Pre-requisite: In VS Code you need to open the folder and not just file to include any jar file for compilation, running, debugging and testing

VSCode works fine with maven or gradle, and if we are using any of those, we should use maven or gradle for dependency management.

If you are not using any dependency management, then there are two options to add jar file

Option 1: Manually

Open .vscode/settings.json file (if not present, you can create one) and add required jar file there as shown below. In this case all the jar files present in lib directory will be included + I have added common-logging-1.1.1.jar which is located outside the project directory

{
    "java.project.referencedLibraries": [
        "lib/**/*.jar",
        "c:\\path\\to\\jarfile\\commons-logging-1.1.1.jar"
    ]
}

Option 2: Via User Interface

If Java Extension is enabled then on left panel there will be Java Dependencies. Inside there you can click on + symbol to add customer jar files. With this method too, the settings.json file will be updated

Old Answer kept for reference...

VSCode works fine with maven or gradle. But without those, as far as I know they have not provided any direct way to add jar file in classpath.

The workaround is to add the entry in .classpath file manually.

For e.g. in below file I have added common-logging-1.2.jar located in lib directory manually by adding a line <classpathentry exported="true" kind="lib" path="lib/commons-logging-1.2.jar"/>

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<classpath>
        <classpathentry kind="con" path="org.eclipse.jdt.launching.JRE_CONTAINER/org.eclipse.jdt.internal.debug.ui.launcher.StandardVMType/JavaSE-1.8"/>
        <classpathentry kind="src" path="src"/>
        <classpathentry kind="output" path="bin"/>
        <classpathentry exported="true" kind="lib" path="lib/commons-logging-1.2.jar"/>
</classpath>

Update

Finally VSCode team is working towards a better solution. This is still work in progress, but you can refer to this link for better aproach https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-java-pack/issues/94#issuecomment-573487982

Update April 2020

VSCode Extension update now supports this feature out of the box. Now VS Code Java lets you work with JAR files directly without any build tools. Go to JAVA DEPENDENCIES view, find the Referenced Libraries node and click the + icon.

Reference https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-java-pack/blob/master/release-notes/v0.9.0.md#work-with-jar-files-directly

Answer 2

I know this is pretty old, but it is still high up on Google results and many may find it. I just want to recommend the following guide to VSCode wich includes a small but sufficient part to including libraries:

https://blog.usejournal.com/visual-studio-code-for-java-the-ultimate-guide-2019-8de7d2b59902

the answer is pretty simple:

1. add the jar to a folder you prefer, e.g. a new directory "lib" in the project folder.
2. add a line like: <classpathentry kind="lib" path="lib/javaxt-cor.jar"/>to your .classpath.
3. done. You can simply import it as you are used to.

Answer 3

You must have the Java Dependency Viewer extension installed which helps import the jar files and add them to the project's classpath OR add the libraries to the ".classpath" file manually by using <classpathentry kind="lib" path="manual\path\entry\jarfile.jar"/> tags within <classpath></classpath> tags for each jar file.

First what you want to do is know how to create a proper Java "project" in VS Code.

To do that:

1. Have a folder opened in VSCode
2. Press Ctrl+Shift+P to open the Command Palette
3. Type in Java: Create New Project
4. Follow the steps according to your requirements and provide the project name

Then : Expand the Java Dependencies section in your Explorer Panel then Expand your "project name".

1. When you hover over "Referenced Libraries" you will see the "+" sign. Click it.
2. It will open the explorer. Use it to select all your jar files and click "Select Jar Files" button.

That's it!!!!

By the way you can see all of this in detail at https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/java/java-project#_working-with-jar-files , it has a clear visual representation of everything related.

Happy Coding!!!