How to unload previous class when it has loaded

[luoluo]

Hi everyone,

I have a issue about JVM.

I have loaded my class file,when I　ｄｏｎ＇ｔ　ｕｓｅ　ｔｈｉｓ　ｃｌａｓｓ，Ｉ　ｗａｎｔ　ｔｏ　ｕｎｌｏａｄ　ｔｈｉｓ　ｃｌａｓｓ 　ｆｒｏｍ　ＪＶＭ，ａｓ　ｄｏｎ＇ｔ　ｌｅｔ　ｔｈｉｓ　ｃｌａｓｓ　ｔｏ　ｉｎｓｉｄｅ　ＪＶＭ　ａｌ ｌ　ｔｈｅ　ｔｉｍｅ，ｏｒ　ｓｏｍｅｔｉｍｅｓ　Ｉ　ｆｉｘ　ｍｙ　ｃｌａｓｓ，ｓｏ　Ｉ　ｈａｖｅ　ｔ ｏ　ｒｅｌｏａｄ　ｔｏ　ｒｅｐｌａｃｅ　ｍｙ　ｏｒｉｇｉｎａｌｉｔｙ　ｃｌａｓｓ．

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[travishein]

I don't believe it is possible to have a class unloaded. it is possible to have a class re loaded, such as a new version of the class, as tomcat and other servlet containers do for you when you redeploy the .war file or recompile the .class files. Also, considering how JSP pages are transcoded into .java files and automatically compiled into .class files. These also get replaced, but never really completely remove the previous class image, in the permanent generation, or permgen space. It is possible to use JVM arguments to tune the percentage of heap size allocated to permanent generation (e.g. loaded classes), but eventually, after (re)loading enough classses the permgen space runs out and the vm needs to be rebooted.

so (I think) the only way to have a class unloaded is to have the underlying java vm restarted ??

[luoluo]

I don't believe it is possible to have a class unloaded. it is possible to have a class re loaded, such as a new version of the class, as tomcat and other servlet containers do for you when you redeploy the .war file or recompile the .class files. Also, considering how JSP pages are transcoded into .java files and automatically compiled into .class files. These also get replaced, but never really completely remove the previous class image, in the permanent generation, or permgen space. It is possible to use JVM arguments to tune the percentage of heap size allocated to permanent generation (e.g. loaded classes), but eventually, after (re)loading enough classses the permgen space runs out and the vm needs to be rebooted.

so (I think) the only way to have a class unloaded is to have the underlying java vm restarted ??

If you have new version class file,how to reload to replace older version.

[xerberuz]

IMHO a class is unloaded if no object of this class exists and the classloader of the class is unloaded itself. I guess OSGi works exactly this way. But I'm not sure so the best idea to see how it works is to check out the OSGi base project and have a look on the classloading mechanism.

Anyway, I would recommend to use OSGi for such requirements.

[JosAH]

Have a look at Java Rebel; it's not free but you can get an evaluation version (I downloaded it once) and it's fun. Basically it's a class loader that checks for new file images of the classes it already loaded; if it finds a newer image and there is nothing using the code and data in that particular class (this is the most important part) it reloads the class.

kind regards,

Jos