Class Loading

In Java, class loading refers to how a .class file is loaded, parsed and stored into memory by the JVM.

class files are irrelevant after loading

Once the class file is loaded and parsed, the JVM doesn't need the class file anymore.

Byte code is array of bytes

All code must be packed in a method. When the method code is read by the loader, it's stored as an array of bytes in the method area.

Every position in the array is the byte code followed by the operands. The program counter just knows the offset from the start of this byte code array.