When a Java program is executed, one or more class loaders locate and load all the classes that are needed to run the program. A Java class loader works by converting a class file into a Java ...

In order to run a Java application, a JVM must load compiled .class files into a context, such as a server, where they can be accessed. A JVM depends on its class loader to perform this function.

Since I have done most of my coding for classes (and almost exclusively in Java), I have always just run my programs through the compiler and never had to worry about actually setting it up to run ...