Java's class loading is a mechanism for JVM to load classes dynamically at runtime. Its core works by three class loaders at hierarchy and delegate model. 1. The Bootstrap Class Loader is responsible for loading the core class library; 2. The Extension Class Loader is used to load the extension library; 3. The Application Class Loader loads the classes in the application classpath. Class loading adopts on-demand loading strategies, which helps reduce memory overhead and improve startup efficiency. It is particularly critical in large applications (such as Spring, OSGi), web servers and plug-in systems, and can realize dynamic loading and isolation of classes. If the configuration is improper, it may cause problems such as ClassNotFoundException or NoClassDefFoundError. Therefore, you should pay attention to avoid class loader leakage, dependency conflicts and reasonable use of custom class loaders.
Class loading in Java is the process by which Java classes are brought into the JVM (Java Virtual Machine) at runtime. It's not something you usually think about when writing code, but it plays a cruel behind-the-scenes role in how your Java applications run.
How Class Loading Works
When you run a Java program, not all classes are loaded at once. Instead, the JVM loads them on demand — typically when a class is referenced for the first time during execution. This helps reduce memory usage and speeds up startup time.
The actual loading is done by class loaders , which are part of the JVM. There are three main built-in class loaders:
- Bootstrap Class Loader: Loads core Java classes (like those in
java.lang
,java.util
, etc.) - Extension Class Loader: Loads classes from the extension libraries
- Application Class Loader: Loads classes from the application's classpath
Each of these works in a hierarchy, and they follow a delegation model — meaning they ask their parent to load a class before trying to do it themselves.
Why It Matters in Real Applications
Understanding class loading becomes important when dealing with larger applications or frameworks like Spring or OSGi, where dynamic loading and isolation of classes are common.
For example:
- Web servers often use custom class loaders to load different web apps separately.
- Plugins in large systems might be loaded dynamically without restarting the whole app.
- If two versions of the same class exist, class loader hierarchies can help avoid conflicts.
Getting this wrong can lead to errors like ClassNotFoundException
or NoClassDefFoundError
, which aren't always easy to debug if you're not familiar with how class loading works.
Common Issues and Tips
Here are a few things to watch out for:
- ClassLoader leaks – especially in web apps, holding references to class loaders can prevent garbage collection and cause memory issues.
- Order matters – because of the delegation model, sometimes the wrong version of a class gets loaded if multiple copies exist.
- Custom class loaders – useful in some cases, but they should be used carefully and only when necessary.
A good practice is to keep your dependencies clean and avoid overlapping libraries that might introduce class conflicts.
Basically that's it.
The above is the detailed content of What is class loading in Java?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!

Hot AI Tools

Undress AI Tool
Undress images for free

Undresser.AI Undress
AI-powered app for creating realistic nude photos

AI Clothes Remover
Online AI tool for removing clothes from photos.

Clothoff.io
AI clothes remover

Video Face Swap
Swap faces in any video effortlessly with our completely free AI face swap tool!

Hot Article

Hot Tools

Notepad++7.3.1
Easy-to-use and free code editor

SublimeText3 Chinese version
Chinese version, very easy to use

Zend Studio 13.0.1
Powerful PHP integrated development environment

Dreamweaver CS6
Visual web development tools

SublimeText3 Mac version
God-level code editing software (SublimeText3)

Hot Topics

There are three common methods to traverse Map in Java: 1. Use entrySet to obtain keys and values at the same time, which is suitable for most scenarios; 2. Use keySet or values to traverse keys or values respectively; 3. Use Java8's forEach to simplify the code structure. entrySet returns a Set set containing all key-value pairs, and each loop gets the Map.Entry object, suitable for frequent access to keys and values; if only keys or values are required, you can call keySet() or values() respectively, or you can get the value through map.get(key) when traversing the keys; Java 8 can use forEach((key,value)->

Optional can clearly express intentions and reduce code noise for null judgments. 1. Optional.ofNullable is a common way to deal with null objects. For example, when taking values ??from maps, orElse can be used to provide default values, so that the logic is clearer and concise; 2. Use chain calls maps to achieve nested values ??to safely avoid NPE, and automatically terminate if any link is null and return the default value; 3. Filter can be used for conditional filtering, and subsequent operations will continue to be performed only if the conditions are met, otherwise it will jump directly to orElse, which is suitable for lightweight business judgment; 4. It is not recommended to overuse Optional, such as basic types or simple logic, which will increase complexity, and some scenarios will directly return to nu.

The core workaround for encountering java.io.NotSerializableException is to ensure that all classes that need to be serialized implement the Serializable interface and check the serialization support of nested objects. 1. Add implementsSerializable to the main class; 2. Ensure that the corresponding classes of custom fields in the class also implement Serializable; 3. Use transient to mark fields that do not need to be serialized; 4. Check the non-serialized types in collections or nested objects; 5. Check which class does not implement the interface; 6. Consider replacement design for classes that cannot be modified, such as saving key data or using serializable intermediate structures; 7. Consider modifying

In Java, Comparable is used to define default sorting rules internally, and Comparator is used to define multiple sorting logic externally. 1.Comparable is an interface implemented by the class itself. It defines the natural order by rewriting the compareTo() method. It is suitable for classes with fixed and most commonly used sorting methods, such as String or Integer. 2. Comparator is an externally defined functional interface, implemented through the compare() method, suitable for situations where multiple sorting methods are required for the same class, the class source code cannot be modified, or the sorting logic is often changed. The difference between the two is that Comparable can only define a sorting logic and needs to modify the class itself, while Compar

There are three common ways to parse JSON in Java: use Jackson, Gson, or org.json. 1. Jackson is suitable for most projects, with good performance and comprehensive functions, and supports conversion and annotation mapping between objects and JSON strings; 2. Gson is more suitable for Android projects or lightweight needs, and is simple to use but slightly inferior in handling complex structures and high-performance scenarios; 3.org.json is suitable for simple tasks or small scripts, and is not recommended for large projects because of its lack of flexibility and type safety. The choice should be decided based on actual needs.

Method reference is a way to simplify the writing of Lambda expressions in Java, making the code more concise. It is not a new syntax, but a shortcut to Lambda expressions introduced by Java 8, suitable for the context of functional interfaces. The core is to use existing methods directly as implementations of functional interfaces. For example, System.out::println is equivalent to s->System.out.println(s). There are four main forms of method reference: 1. Static method reference (ClassName::staticMethodName); 2. Instance method reference (binding to a specific object, instance::methodName); 3.

To deal with character encoding problems in Java, the key is to clearly specify the encoding used at each step. 1. Always specify encoding when reading and writing text, use InputStreamReader and OutputStreamWriter and pass in an explicit character set to avoid relying on system default encoding. 2. Make sure both ends are consistent when processing strings on the network boundary, set the correct Content-Type header and explicitly specify the encoding with the library. 3. Use String.getBytes() and newString(byte[]) with caution, and always manually specify StandardCharsets.UTF_8 to avoid data corruption caused by platform differences. In short, by

How to quickly create new emails in Outlook is as follows: 1. The desktop version uses the shortcut key Ctrl Shift M to directly pop up a new email window; 2. The web version can create new emails in one-click by creating a bookmark containing JavaScript (such as javascript:document.querySelector("divrole='button'").click()); 3. Use browser plug-ins (such as Vimium, CrxMouseGestures) to trigger the "New Mail" button; 4. Windows users can also select "New Mail" by right-clicking the Outlook icon of the taskbar
