The Well-Grounded Java Developer

Chapter 5. Class files and bytecode

This chapter covers

• Classloading
• Method handles
• The anatomy of class files
• JVM bytecode and why it matters
• The new invokedynamic opcode

One tried-and-trusted way to become a more well-grounded Java developer is to improve your understanding of how the platform works. Getting to grips with core features such as classloading and the nature of JVM bytecode can greatly help with this goal.

Imagine you have an application that makes heavy use of Dependency Injection (DI) techniques such as Spring, and it develops problems starting up and fails with a cryptic error message. If the problem is more than a simple configuration error, you may need to understand how the DI framework is implemented to track down ...