THE Java™ Programming Language, Fourth Edition

Chapter 23. System Programming

	GLENDOWER: I can call spirits from the vasty deep. HOTSPUR: Why, so can I, or so can any man; But will they come when you do call for them?
	--William Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part 1

Sometimes your application must interact with the runtime system of the Java virtual machine or the underlying operating system. Such interactions include executing other programs, shutting down the runtime system, and reading and writing the system properties that allow communication between the operating system and the runtime system. Three main classes in java.lang provide this access:

• The System class provides static methods to manipulate system state. It provides for the reading and writing of system properties, provides the standard ...