Class Loading

Here are some links which gives details of class loading happens in Java. Along with class loading we also need to try and understanding the security aspects of class loading. In this respect the concept of extensions and endorsed classes play an important role.

Here are some links that should give you insight into class loading.
http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-10-1996/jw-10-indepth.html
http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/ext/basics/load.html
http://www.javalobby.org/java/forums/t18345.html
http://www.freejavaguide.com/jcl.pdf
http://onjava.com/pub/a/onjava/2005/01/26/classloading.html
http://onjava.com/pub/a/onjava/2003/11/12/classloader.html


This gives details of classloading in a web application server (Tomcat in this case)
http://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-4.1-doc/class-loader-howto.html
http://www.eclipsetotale.com/tomcatPlugin/readmeDevLoader.phtml
http://www.zeroturnaround.com/blog/rjc301/
http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E12840_01/wls/docs103/programming/classloading.html

This is class loading using java webstart. The concept of WebStart is also an important aspect of Java.
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/java/library/j-webstart/

Along with classloading one should also start looking into OSGi technology which allows for loading of new/modified classes without requiring JVM restart.