how to run commands (external) in gvim

Question

I am getting ready to write lot of small experimental java programs as I am studying for java certification. Since I want to avoid using an IDE I'm giving gvim a try.

I have a HelloWorld.java file open. How can I run javac and then java and then be able to see the output all in one window?

I do not want to alt tab to a dos prompt window. compile/run the program there and then come back to my editor.

Answer 1

You can run external programs from vim by prefixing the command you want to run with "!". For example you could run javac straight from gvim by typing ":!javac filename"

Answer 2

Try this in command mode:

:!javac HelloWorld.java && java HelloWorld

Edit: I believe that in windows do concatenate multiple commands you use && and not ; as I posted previously. But I'm not sure if this applies to gvim.