.class/getClass()/Class.forName() in Java. How does it work?

Question

Java

I read that Class.forName() in java is needed to load a class into memory (including initialization of static blocks). Now it became interesting to me, if I use the .class literal in the code, will the class also be loaded into memory? If so, then what is the difference between Class.forName() and .class/.getClass() if they all give us a reference to an object of type Class that stores information about the class?

Answer 1

The difference is that it Class.forName()can, by name, load a class that is not known at compile time.