Question

When loading the class, using method forName(), any static initializers in the class are executed.
Can I prevent this ?

try {
        Class.forName("MYClass");
    } catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
        // TODO Auto-generated catch block
        e.printStackTrace();
    }

MyClass

class MyClass{

static String TEST="MYCLASS";
static SomeClass sm=new SomeClass();
}

I found in doc that there is a overloaded version of Class.forName() i.e.

public static Class<?> forName(String name,
                           boolean initialize,
                           ClassLoader loader)
                    throws ClassNotFoundException

What is initialize parameter ?

Answer 1

If you dont want to execute static initialization try class literal instead of Class.forName

class A1{
    static{
        System.out.println("static block from A1");
    }
}

class B1{
    public static void main(String[] args) throws ClassNotFoundException {
//      Class.forName("A1");//this will invoke static initialization
        Class c=A1.class;//this will not invoke static initialization
    }
}