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Find a way out of the ClassLoader maze

System, current, context? Which ClassLoader should you use?

By Vladimir Roubtsov, JavaWorld.com, 06/06/03

Page 4 of 4

It is when the current and the context classloaders are siblings that the right decision is impossible. Ideally, no Java runtime should ever create this ambiguity. When it happens, my code chooses the context loader: a decision based on personal experience of when things work correctly most of the time. Feel free to change that code branch to suit your taste. It is possible that the context loader is a better choice for framework components, and the current loader is better for business logic.

Finally, a simple check ensures that the selected classloader is not a parent of the system classloader. This is a good thing to do if you are developing code that might be deployed as an extension library.

Note that I intentionally do not look at the name of resources or classes that will be loaded. If nothing else, the experience with Java XML APIs becoming part of the J2SE core should have taught you that filtering by class names is a bad idea. Nor do I trial load classes to see which classloader succeeds first. Examining classloader parent-child relationships is a fundamentally better and more predictable approach.

Although Java resource loading remains an esoteric topic, J2SE relies on various load strategies more and more with every major platform upgrade. Java will be in serious trouble if this area is not given some significantly better design considerations. Whether you agree or not, I would appreciate your feedback and any interesting pointers from your personal design experience.

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