Shigeru Chiba

Javassist is a powerful new library in the field of bytecode engineering. It allows developers to add a new method to a compiled class, modify a method body, and so forth. Unlike other similar libraries, Javassist enables this without knowledge of Java bytecode or the structure of a class file. Bytecode engineering is used to manipulate and modify compiled Java classes and to programmatically create new classes. This engineering can happen either at runtime or at compile time. Some technologies use bytecode manipulation to optimize or enhance existing Java classes. Other technologies use it to make themselves easier to use or to avoid cumbersome code generators. For instance, the JDO 1.0 (Java Data Objects) specification requires bytecode enhancement of precompiled Java to add database persistence code to simple Java classes. In Aspect-Oriented Programming, some of t... (more)