Reputation: 281

Using a class in java

Suppose I want to use a class that someone else wrote in java, do I need to get access to the source code itself or is there another way?

Upvotes: 1

Answers (6)

pulasthi

Reputation: 1750

No, its not necessary to have the source code unless you need to understand the methods of the class. You can use the compiled java class that will (usually) be available as a jar distribution.

Upvotes: 3

M Sach

Reputation: 34424

If you just want to use that class file in your programm, you don't need the source code. Yo can straight away call that class methods. In IDS like eclipse when you type dot after object name of that class , even yo can see all the methods available for outside work. But yes if you want to understand the code of that class you need source code which you can get after decompilation of class too(if source code is not available)

Upvotes: 0

Jasonw

Reputation: 5064

You can get the compiled java class file and included that in your classpath. Normally it is good to have the source code with you because you can always reference if you are in doubt what actually the class methods do.

Upvotes: 0