Java Class Library

The Java Class Library (JCL) is a set of dynamically loadable libraries that Java applications can call at run time. Because the Java Platform is not dependent on a specific operating system, applications cannot rely on any of the platform-native libraries. Instead, the Java Platform provides a comprehensive set of standard class libraries, containing the functions common to modern operating systems.

JCL serves three purposes within the Java Platform:

Java class file

A Java class file is a file (with the .class filename extension) containing Java bytecode that can be executed on the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). A Java class file is produced by a Java compiler from Java programming language source files (.java files) containing Java classes. If a source file has more than one class, each class is compiled into a separate class file.

JVMs are available for many platforms, and a class file compiled on one platform will execute on a JVM of another platform. This makes Java platform-independent.

History

On 11 December 2006, the class file format was modified under Java Specification Request (JSR) 202.

File layout and structure

Sections

There are 10 basic sections to the Java Class File structure:

Library (computing)

In computer science, a library is a collection of non-volatile resources used by computer programs, often to develop software. These may include configuration data, documentation, help data, message templates, pre-written code and subroutines, classes, values or type specifications. In IBM's OS/360 and its successors they are referred to as partitioned data sets.

In computer science, a library is a collection of implementations of behavior, written in terms of a language, that has a well-defined interface by which the behavior is invoked. This means that as long as a higher level program uses a library to make system calls, it does not need to be re-written to implement those system calls over and over again. In addition, the behavior is provided for reuse by multiple independent programs. A program invokes the library-provided behavior via a mechanism of the language. For example, in a simple imperative language such as C, the behavior in a library is invoked by using C's normal function-call. What distinguishes the call as being to a library, versus being to another function in the same program, is the way that the code is organized in the system.