How to compile Java program with .jar library

javac -cp <jar you want to include>;<jar you want to include> <source.java> 

<jar you want to include> if in same directory, just name of jar will do, if not, specify full or relative paths

if more than one jars, separate with ,

replace ; with : on unix

If possible, use some IDE like Eclipse. I used to spend a lot of time on similar things, but in industry, you will hardly ever do it in this fashion.

Check list:

1. your classes in acm.jar appear as:

   acm/program/CLASSX.class

   acm/program/CLASSY.class

   when decanted with jar tf acm.jar

2. You're importing them like:

import acm.program.CLASSX ;

or

import acm.program.* ;

Are you running these commands on a Windows machine? On Windows, the elements of the classpath are separated by a semicolon, not a colon. So:

javac -classpath .;acm.jar TestConsole.java

Another possibility: the structure of acm.jar is wrong. It's not sufficient that the class files inside were compiled from files that declare package acm.program - the package structure must also be represented as a directory hierarchy, so acm.jar must contain a directory acm, and within that a subdirectory program that contains the actual class files for the classes used in TestConsole.