The Well-Grounded Java Developer, Second Edition

4 Class files and bytecode

This chapter covers

• Class loading
• Reflection
• The anatomy of class files
• JVM bytecode and why it matters

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

Consider the following scenarios that a senior Java developer might encounter: 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 ...