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Java Import Mechanics Explained

The document discusses how Java imports work. It explains that import statements are evaluated at compile time to indicate which package names can be used without being qualified. At runtime, only fully qualified class names are used, not import statements. It also discusses how classloaders locate classes at runtime based on the classpath and how applets need to be configured to allow the browser access to external jar files referenced by import statements.

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chessgeneral
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21 views3 pages

Java Import Mechanics Explained

The document discusses how Java imports work. It explains that import statements are evaluated at compile time to indicate which package names can be used without being qualified. At runtime, only fully qualified class names are used, not import statements. It also discusses how classloaders locate classes at runtime based on the classpath and how applets need to be configured to allow the browser access to external jar files referenced by import statements.

Uploaded by

chessgeneral
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

5/19/2017 HowjavaimportworksStackOverflow

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Howjavaimportworks

Iwouldliketoknowhowthe import works.

I'maskingthis,becauseIhavethefollowing imports inmyproject

[Link];
[Link];
[Link];
[Link];
[Link];
[Link];
[Link];
[Link];

Idon'thaveinmyprojectthese package so,howthiswillbeimported?

IfIcreatea jar filewithallmyclasses,myserverwherewillhostthis jar file,hastobefreeinternetaccesstoget


these package ?

Igotsomeprobleminmy Applet thathasthese import andI'maskingthisquestion,tounderstandifcanbeainternet


rule.

UPDATE

<appletcode="[Link]"
archive="[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
height="550"width="550">
</applet>

java

editedSep27'12at11:55 askedSep27'12at11:30
Lucas_Santos
2,120 8 43 87

possibleduplicateofHowisimportdoneinJava? Curious Sep27'12at11:33

2 Ireadthisthreadbutthethreaddon'tanswermyquestion Lucas_Santos Sep27'12at11:35

5Answers

Indynamiclanguages,whentheinterpreter import s,itsimplyreadsafileandevaluatesit.

[Link] 1/3
5/19/2017 HowjavaimportworksStackOverflow
InC,externallibrariesarelocatedbythelinkeratcompiletimetobuildthefinalobjectifthelibrary
isstaticallycompiled,whilefordynamiclibraries asmallerversionofthelinkeriscalledatruntime
whichremapsaddressesandsomakescodeinthelibraryavailabletotheexecutable.

InJava, import issimplyusedbythecompilertoletyounameyourclassesbytheirunqualified


name,let'ssay String insteadof [Link] .Youdon'treallyneedtoimport [Link].*
[Link]
[Link],soa String isreallya [Link]
[Link]
classestohavethesamesimplename,insteadofrelyingontheoldCconventionofprefixing
typeslikethis. java_lang_String .Thisiscallednamespacing.

BTW,inJavathere'sthestaticimportconstruct,whichallowstofurthersavetypingifyouuse
[Link]([Link])whichdeclares

[Link].*;

youcanusetheconstant PI inyourcode,insteadofreferencingitthrough [Link] ,andthe


method cos() insteadof [Link]() .Soforexampleyoucanwrite

doubler=cos(PI*theta);

Onceyouunderstandthatclassesarealwaysreferencedbytheirfullyqualifiednameinthefinal
bytecode,[Link]
anobjectofthatclassiscreated,[Link]
thistime,the ClassLoader [Link]'tfindtheclass,a
ClassNotFoundException [Link],the ClassLoader usuallychecksthepaths
listedinthe $CLASSPATH environmentvariable.

Tosolveyourproblem,itseems youneedan applet elementlikethis

<applet
codebase="[Link]
archive="[Link],[Link]"
code="[Link]"
width="550"height="550">

BTW,youdon'tneedtoimportthearchivesinthestandardJRE.

editedSep27'12at12:32 answeredSep27'12at11:53
Raffaele
16k 5 27 64

Andwhenaexternalpackageiscalledinmyimport,likegoogle(lookatmyimports).Whatwillbedone?I
needafreeinternetaccess? Lucas_Santos Sep27'12at11:58

Itseemsyourarchivesmustbeputinthesamelocationpointedtoby codebase ,andreferencedby


simplenames [Link] and [Link] .Seethisdoc RaffaeleSep27'12at12:05

Itryiedputthe <applet> taglikeyousaid,butdoesn'[Link]


[Link]/questions/12604767/ Lucas_Santos Sep27'12at12:25

2 Whereis$CLASSPATHdefined?CanIchangeit?DoeseachJavaapplicationhaveitsown
$CLASSPATH?NikoBellic Jul26'14at22:59

Java'[Link]
indicatetothecompilerwheretofindthenames inthecode.

Youmaylivewithoutanyimportstatementwhenyoualwaysspecifythefullqualifiednameof
[Link]:

[Link]=[Link]();

Theimportstatementwillmakeyourcodemorereadablelikethis:

[Link].*

JButtonbut=newJButton();

answeredSep27'12at12:08
PeterMmm
16.1k 8 44 91

2 Goodforusingtheterm"syntacticalsugar"GabNov21'16at9:39

[Link] 2/3
5/19/2017 HowjavaimportworksStackOverflow

Importinjavadoesnotworkatall,asitisevaluatedatcompiletimeonly.(treatitasshortcutsso
youdonothavetowriteFullyQualifiedClassnames)Attheruntimethereisnoimportatall,just
FQCNs.

Attheruntimeitisnecessarythatallclassesyouhavereferencedcanbefoundbyclassloaders.
(classloaderinfrastructureissometimesdarkmagicandhighlydependentonenvironment)In
caseofappletyouwillhavetorigupyourhtmltagproperlzandalsoprovidenecessaryjar
archivesonyourserver

PS:matchingattheruntimeisdoneviaqualifiedclassnamesclassfoundunderthisnameis
notnecessarilythesameorcompatiblewithclassyouhavecompiledagainst.

answeredSep27'12at11:43
KonstantinPribluda
10.5k 1 18 29

Whathappens,isthatmyappletstopinalinewhereIcallamethodthatexistina importstatic
[Link]; .But localhost worksfine,Igotthis
problemjustwhenIhotthe jar [Link],ifthe applet stopsinlinewherecallamethodthat
existsinthisimportedpackage,maybeainternetaccessrulecanresolve? Lucas_Santos Sep27'12
at11:50

1 [Link]
KonstantinPribludaSep27'12at11:53

Questionupdated,the jar arein [Link]/[Link] Lucas_Santos Sep27'12at11:56

javac (or java duringruntime)looksforthe classes beingimportedinthe classpath .Ifthey


arenotthereinthe classpath then classnotfound exceptionsarethrown.

classpath isjustlikethe path variableinashell,whichisusedbytheshelltofindacommand


orexecutable.

Entiredirectoriesorindividualjarfilescanbeputinthe classpath .Also,yesa classpath can


[Link]
aboutclasspathtoresolveyourdoubts.

answeredSep27'12at11:40
Curious
990 5 21

[Link]
Applethavetohavethelibrariesintherightplaceoryousimplyprovidethoselibrariesby
[Link]:Java:Easiestwaytomergeareleaseinto
onejarfile

answeredSep27'12at11:40
Kai
23.5k 8 61 89

Ihostmy jar fileinmyserver,soIneedtoedittheclasspathofmyservertoallusersaccesstheapplet


withoutproblem? Lucas_Santos Sep27'12at12:00

No,[Link]'sclasspathistheimportantone. Kai Sep27


'12at12:03

SoIthinktheproblemisnotinmyclasspath,[Link]
thejarfileinmyserver,theappletrunsuntilfoundamethodthatareinaimportedclassliketheimport
[Link]'tgenerateerror. Lucas_Santos Sep27'12at12:05

[Link](thehtmlcodeyou
updated).KaiSep27'12at12:10

[Link] 3/3

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