Talk:Java class file
//hello.java } class java
Structure section needs a lot of work
The structure sections need some work, it is incorrect as is. The "arrays", such as the constant pool, are not arrays in the typical sense (the entries are not all the same size), instead it is more like a stream. Thus the formulas calculating it's size are misleading at best; they don't compute the number of bytes used. Also they don't account for the strange fact that long and double types consume two slots (leaving a phantom unused slot behind) rather than one slot like all other types. It should also be mentioned that the JVM's UTF-8 string type is not quite standard UTF-8; it is a modified non-standard form. The C representation is also by no means able to "fully represent" the file structure as stated. First, one must assume big-endian layout, no padding bytes, and the use of IEEE 754 floating point storage format. And as mentioned the arrays are nothing like C arrays at all (they contain variable-width members), so that part is pseudo code at best. Also the structure shown is only the outermost layer; none of the dependent inner types are shown in the code (so it can not be a complete representation). The table is also just visually cluttered, I'm sure it could be cleaned up a lot. - Dmeranda 05:20, 23 October 2007 (UTC)
- I've made some attempts at cleaning up the large table and elaborating on some of the details. I also removed the fake "C structure" section entirely; it was not even close to being correct C code, and was not at all useful to this article. - Dmeranda 21:09, 23 October 2007 (UTC)
C programming language representation belongs in article
The Java Virtual Machine Specification introduces the class file format with a C-like representation rather than a binary table format for a reason. Some find this more readable and easier to comprehend. That is why both are present in this article.