Class Loaders in Java

         Java Class Loader

Java ClassLoader loads a java class file into java virtual machine. It is as simple as that. It is not a huge complicated concept to learn and every java developer must know about the java class loaders and how it works.
Like NullPointerException, one exception that is very popular is ClassNotFoundException. At least in your beginner stage you might have got umpteen number of ClassNotFoundException. Java class loader is the culprit that is causing this exception.

Types (Hierarchy) of Java Class Loaders

Java class loaders can be broadly classified into below categories:

• Bootstrap Class Loader
  Bootstrap class loader loads java’s core classes like java.lang, java.util etc. These are classes that are part of java runtime environment. Bootstrap class loader is native implementation and so they may differ across different JVMs.
• Extensions Class Loader
  JAVA_HOME/jre/lib/ext contains jar packages that are extensions of standard core java classes. Extensions class loader loads classes from this ext folder. Using the system environment propery java.ext.dirs you can add ‘ext’ folders and jar files to be loaded using extensions class loader.
• System Class Loader
  Java classes that are available in the java classpath are loaded using System class loader.

You can see more class loaders like java.net.URLClassLoader, java.security.SecureClassLoader etc. Those are all extended from java.lang.ClassLoader
These class loaders have a hierarchical relationship among them. Class loader can load classes from one level above its hierarchy. First level is bootstrap class loader, second level is extensions class loader and third level is system class loader.