java-class-interface-enum-expected
Java Compiler Error: “class, interface, or enum expected”
1. Overview
In this quick tutorial, we’re going to talk about the Java compiler
error “class, interface, or enum expected”. This error is mainly faced
by developers who are new to the java world.
Let’s walk through a few examples of this error and discuss how to fix
them.
2. Misplaced Curly Braces
The root cause of the “class, interface, or enum expected” error is
typically a misplaced curly brace “}”. This can be an extra curly
brace after the class. It could also be a method accidentally written
outside the class.
Let’s look at an example:
public class MyClass {
public static void main(String args[]) {
System.out.println("Baeldung");
}
}
}/MyClass.java:6: error: class, interface, or enum expected
}
^
1 errorIn the above code example, there is an extra “}” curly brace in the
last line which results in a compilation error. If we remove it, then
the code will compile.
Let’s look at another scenario where this error occurs:
public class MyClass {
public static void main(String args[]) {
//Implementation
}
}
public static void printHello() {
System.out.println("Hello");
}/MyClass.java:6: error: class, interface, or enum expected
public static void printHello()
^
/MyClass.java:8: error: class, interface, or enum expected
}
^
2 errorsIn the above example, we’ll get the error because the method
printHello() is outside of the class MyClass. We can fix this by
moving the closing curly braces “}” to the end of the file. In other
words, move the printHello() method inside MyClass.
3. Conclusion
In this brief tutorial, we have discussed the “class, interface, or enum
expected” Java compiler error and demonstrated two likely root causes.
