Does Java guarantee that Object.getClass() == Object.getClass()?

Question

I really do mean identity-equality here.

For example, will the following always print true?

System.out.println(\"foo\".getClass() ==         


        

Answer 1

Yes, class tokens are unique (for any given classloader, that is).

I.e. you will always get a reference to the same physical object within the same classloader realm. However, a different classloader will load a different class token, in conjunction with the fact that the same class definition is deemed different when loaded by two distinct classloaders.

See this earlier answer of mine for a demonstration of this.