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Understanding the Java ClassLoader

Greg Travis (mito@panix.com), Programmer

Greg Travis is a freelance programmer living in New York City. His interest in computers can be traced back to that episode of "The Bionic Woman" where Jamie is trying to escape a building whose lights and doors are controlled by an evil artificial intelligence, which mocks her through loudspeakers. Greg is a firm believer that, when a computer program works, it's a complete coincidence.

Summary: This tutorial provides an overview of the Java ClassLoader and takes you through the construction of an example ClassLoader that automatically compiles your code before loading it. You'll learn exactly what a ClassLoader does, and what you need to do to create your own.

Date: 24 Apr 2001
Level: Introductory
PDF: A4 and Letter (56 KB | 17 pages)Get Adobe® Reader®

Activity: 120703 views
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Resources

Read the online documentation for the ClassLoader class on the Sun Web site.
The Java Developer Connection has a custom ClassLoader tutorial.
Learn about class file loading in The Java Language Specification.
The Java Virtual Machine Specification includes information about ClassLoaders.
The JDK version 1.3 documentation has a list of core Java library classes that use ClassLoaders.
" Create a Java 1.2-style custom ClassLoader " ( JavaWorld March 2000) provides insight on building a ClassLoader under JDK 1.2.
" Make classes from XML data " (developerWorks, August 2000) describes using a custom ClassLoader to create new classes on the fly.
If you are new to the Java platform, Java language essentials (developerWorks, November 2000) provides a thorough guide to the platform fundamentals.