Recommended Way to Get Hostname in Java

The most reliable and portable method to obtain the hostname of the current computer in Java is to use the getHostName() method of the InetAddress class. This method returns the canonical hostname of the computer, which is the same as the name returned by the hostname command on Unix-based systems.

Using the Runtime.getRuntime().exec("hostname") method can be less reliable and less portable. While it may work on some systems, it may not work on all systems, and it can be prone to errors or exceptions.

Here's an example of how to use the getHostName() method:

import java.net.InetAddress;

public class Hostname {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        try {
            InetAddress localHost = InetAddress.getLocalHost();
            String hostname = localHost.getHostName();
            System.out.println("Hostname: "   hostname);
        } catch (Exception e) {
            System.err.println(e.getMessage());
        }
    }
}

It's important to note that the getHostName() method returns the canonical hostname, which is the name that the computer is known by on the network. It may not always be the same as the name that is displayed on the user interface of the computer.