javap

The javap command is called the Java “disassembler”* *because it takes apart class files and tells you what’s inside them. You won’t use this command often, but using it to find out how a particular Java statement works is fun, sometimes. You can also use it to find out what methods are available for a class if you don’t have the source code that was used to create the class.

Here is the general format:

javap filename [options]

The following is typical of the information you get when you run the javap command:

C:javasamples>javap HelloApp
Compiled from "HelloApp.java"
public class HelloApp extends java.lang.Object{
    public HelloApp();
    public static void main(java.lang.String[]);
}

As you can see, the javap command indicates that the HelloApp class was compiled from the HelloApp.java file and that it consists of a HelloApp public class and a main public method.

You may want to use two options with the javap command. If you use the -c option, the javap command displays the actual Java bytecodes created by the compiler for the class. (Java bytecode is the executable program compiled from your Java source file.)

And if you use the -verbose option, the bytecodes — plus a ton of other fascinating information about the innards of the class — are displayed. Here’s the -c output for a class named HelloApp:

C:javasamples>javap HelloApp -c
Compiled from "HelloApp.java"
public class HelloApp extends java.lang.Object{
public HelloApp();
  Code:
   0:   aload_0
   1:   invokespecial   #1; //Method
   java/lang/Object."<init>":()V
   4:   return
public static void main(java.lang.String[]);
  Code:
   0:   getstatic       #2; //Field
   java/lang/System.out:Ljava/io/PrintStream;
   3:   ldc     #3; //String Hello, World!
   5:   invokevirtual   #4; //Method
   java/io/PrintStream.println:(Ljava/lang/String;)V
   8:   return
}