what does **/*.java mean in java classpath

Question

So I saw this line in the .classpath file(eclipse file) today

<classpathentry kind="src" path="src/main/java" including="**/*.java"/>

I know *.java means any java file, but what does that **/ before it do? Does it mean to include every subfolder under src/main/java?

Is a .classpath file an eclipse file? You should probably tag/mention that appropriately. — Daniel Kaplan, Jul 02 '13 at 19:31

score 8 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 02 '13 at 19:36

a single star () matches zero or more characters within a path name. a double star (**) matches zero or more characters across directory levels. Another way to think about it is double star (**) matches slash (/) but single star () does not.

So let's say I have these classes:

1. src/test.java
2. test/src/test.java

Well */*.java matches 1 only where as **/*.java matches both because ** matches any number of levels

score 7 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:17

7

Does it mean to include every subfolder under src/main/java?

Yes. I think it is a relatively common pattern in glob-style expressions. See for example this SO question about its use in the bash shell.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:17

Community

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answered Jul 02 '13 at 19:35

andersschuller

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score 0 · Answer 3 · edited Jul 02 '13 at 20:05

0

It means every sub folder under src/main/java and ending with .java

edited Jul 02 '13 at 20:05

Leigh

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answered Jul 02 '13 at 19:49

Ruchira Gayan Ranaweera

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what does **/*.java mean in java classpath

3 Answers3