In Java, the Class Loader is a component of the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) responsible for loading class files into memory. The class loader dynamically loads classes when they're first referenced ...

It is also used by syntactic constructs like X.class class literals (see “Get a Load of That Name!” for more details). Thread context classloaders were introduced in Java 2 Platform, Standard ...

Like many server applications, Tomcat installs a variety of class loaders (that is, classes that implement java.lang.ClassLoader) to allow different portions of the container, and the web ...

Java 5 added the Java Instrumentation mechanism, which allows you to provide “Java agents” that can inspect and modify the byte code of the classes as they are loaded.

Understanding the class loading architectures of major application server vendors helps J2EE developers design application packaging structures that are both portable and efficient. After a brief ...