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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-30T04:52:35+00:00

I am a novice in Java, so the below question may look trivial. Background:

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I am a novice in Java, so the below question may look trivial.

Background:

Scenario 1:
I have a abstract base class C1 in Java with say N interface member functions.
The client uses this class as a package and implements Client1 the client business logic.
So Client1 using the package Package1 (which contains C1 class definition) is able to work with jar JAR1.

Scenario 2:
I want to understand the impact of adding new member functions to class C1. The class C1 with additional members (say we call C2) contains N+M member functions (which assume the client does not use) has jar file JAR2.

Now there can exists multiple combination of deployment –
Client1 (built on Package1) runs in environment of JAR1
Client1 (built on Package1) runs in environment of JAR2
etc

I am basically from a C++ background and there, the concept of vptr and its impact would be studied in details when a new interface is added to class which is exposed to clients.

Question:
a. How does these extension needs to be analyzed and implemented in case of JAVA (any material on the same is very helpful).
b. If this is a “safe option” in java, what are the other considerations we need to handle in such type of situation.

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    To answer both questions:

    a) This article describes how the JVM loads and links class files: http://java.sun.com/docs/books/jvms/second_edition/html/ConstantPool.doc.html.

    b) As long as the signature of methods/public members doesn’t change, calling code will still work. Changing these will result in runtime exceptions when the class is loaded.

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