RE: A query on the classloader architecture

[David Holmes]

Chris,

> It seems only one person is using "system class loader" to mean a
> Java class which loads system classes, and that person is me.
> I thought I'd got the terminology from Li Gong's book (which I don't
> have handy), but apparently the rest of the world is unanimous in
> using "system class loader" to mean the
> application class loader. Sorry for the confusion.

It is Sun's fault as they decided the class loader that loads the
application is the "system class loader" while at the same time "core"
classes in the java.* packages were referred to as "system classes" (which
is what Li Gong calls them all the time) but are "loaded" by the bootstrap
loader. These days I tend to say system/application classloader to refer to
the class loader returned by getSystemClassLoader that loaded the
application. :)

Does this mean you need to edit your previous email to me to clarify exactly
which class loader you were referring to with each point?

Cheers,
David Holmes