The "sout" shortcut is an IDE feature, not a Java language feature. It's most commonly associated with IntelliJ IDEA, but similar shortcuts exist in other IDEs like Eclipse or NetBeans. This shortcut doesn't "appear" in a public class because it's not actual Java code - it's just a typing shortcut that your IDE expands into the full System.out.println() statement when you type it. If you're not seeing the shortcut work:

Make sure you're typing it inside a method body, not at the class level Check that code completion/templates are enabled in your IDE Try pressing Tab or Enter after typing "sout" to trigger the expansion