Importing classes (import)

The import statement allows using classes from other packages without fully qualifying them. It comes after the package statement but before the class definition.

Syntax:

import packageName.ClassName;
import packageName.\*; // imports all classes in package

Examples:

package com.example.app;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.\*; // imports all java.util classes

public class MyApp {
List<String> list = new ArrayList<>(); // no need for java.util.ArrayList
}

Fully qualified name (no import):

java.util.ArrayList<String> list = new java.util.ArrayList<>();

Ambiguous imports:

import java.util.Date;
import java.sql.Date; // error: both imported – must use fully qualified name

Static imports (covered in 9.3) allow importing static members.

Import does not affect performance – it’s just a compile‑time convenience.