Dynamically manage two jar files with the same package and class names

Question

I have two jar files from a client, one of which is used for a testing and another for final versions. Currently I put them in different folders and modify the library path when deploying our code, but it would be nice to be able to load both jar files and switch between them dynamically at runtime.

Is this possible?

Answer 1

You can always write your own ClassLoader and chain it with the standard ClassLoader.

http://download.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/api/java/lang/ClassLoader.html

I used this method 10 years ago to load classes that were recieved via sockets and specified in an XML file (via sockets as well). My java program didn't know that the classes even existed before it got the XML file and the classes.