Covert Java™: Techniques for Decompiling, Patching, and Reverse Engineering

Chapter 5. Replacing and Patching Application Classes

“How many software engineers does it take to change a light bulb?”

“None. We'll document it in the manual.”

“None. It's a hardware problem.”

“One, but he's not available till the year 2010.”

“Two. One always leaves in the middle of the project.”

“Four. One to design the change, one to implement it, one to document it, and one to maintain it afterward.”

IN THIS CHAPTER

• What Do We Do When We Have Tried Every Road but Failed? 51

• Finding the Class That Has to Be Patched 53

• Sample Scenario That Requires Patching 55

• Patching a Class to Provide New Logic 58

• Reconfiguring the Application to Load and Use the Patched Class 59

• Patching Sealed Packages 60

• Quick Quiz 61

• In Brief 61

What Do We Do When We Have Tried Every ...