GSON library not found when importing into processing java

Question

I'm trying to import the GSON library into my processing java sketch. The editor I'm using is VS Code. I'm fairly new to how libraries work in Java, so I followed what many sites said. Here's what I did.

1. First, I downloaded the GSON .jar file from this site.
2. Next, In my processing sketch within VS Code, I created folders called libraries and library, so that the file structure looked like this: /sketch/libraries/library.
3. Then, I renamed the downloaded file from step 1 to gson.jar and put it in both the libraries then library folder.
4. Finally, I imported the libraries at the top of my sketch like so:

import com.google.gson.Gson; 
import com.google.gson.GsonBuilder;

However, I still get the library not found error:

No library found for com.google.gson No library found for com.google.gson Libraries must be installed in a folder named 'libraries' inside the sketchbook folder (see the Preferences window). main.pde:0:0:0:0: The package “com.google” does not exist. You might be missing a library.

What am I doing wrong? Am I missing a step?

Thanks for any help.

Answer 1

A simpler option would be to drop gson-2.8.2.jar into a Processing sketch. This will create a code folder with the jar inside the import should work from there:

import com.google.gson.Gson; 
import com.google.gson.GsonBuilder;

println(Gson.class);// prints class com.google.gson.Gson

The downside is the jar is visible per sketch.

If you want the library to be visible to all sketches as if it's a Processing library, as you've attempt, the folder structure is slightly different:

/path/to/Processing/libraries/YourLibrary/library/YourLibrary.jar

e.g. Documents/Processing/libraries/Gson/library/Gson.jar

(indeed you need to rename gson-2.8.2.jar to match the grandparent folder name)

Additionally, if you don't mind a simpler JSON parser, just uses the built-in loadJSONObject() / loadJSONArray() functions