Difference Between import and class.forName in java

Question

Both import and class.forName loads the class file. When I do an example of importing a mysql data in jsp file, It is needed to import the driver class through class.forName .when I import the jdbc driver through import statement it cant take data from mysql in tomcat server .

Answer 1

1 : import 
==> loads the class when you call any instance of it or call anything by class reference
==> loads the class when call is made

2 : Class.forName("");
==> loads the class in the jvm immediately

difference can be seen by if a class has static block

==> import will not call the static block
==> Class.forName("") will call the static block

in your case

===> Driver class when loaded by Class.forName("") , executes its static block , which published the driver
==> Simply importing the Driver class wont execute the static block and thus your Driver will not be published for connection objects to be created

Answer 2

A Driver class is loaded, and therefore automatically registered with the DriverManager by calling the method Class.forName. This explicitly loads the driver class. Since it does not depend on any external setup, this way of loading a driver is the recommended one for using the DriverManager framework. The following code loads the class acme.db.Driver:

Class.forName("acme.db.Driver");

If acme.db.Driver has been written so that loading it causes an instance to be created and also calls DriverManager.registerDriver with that instance as the parameter (as it should do), then it is in the DriverManager's list of drivers and available for creating a connection.

Picked up from this answer. Read it for detailed information. But I guess import will not register the driver under driver manager.

Answer 3

class.forName allows you to use the Driver class without having an explicit import for your class. This allows you to build the project without having to have the jdbc driver in your classpath.

And the reason why " it cant take data from mysql ", as you possibly might not be returning reference to the variable regarding the jdbc driver class..

Hope it helps..