Best approach to dynamically load modules (classes) in Java

Question

I\'m currently writing an application that requires to operate on different type of devices. My approach would be to make a \"modular\" application that can dynamically load dif

Answer 1

There are two scenarios.

1. Implementation jar's are on classpath
   In this scenario you can simply use ServiceLoader API (refer to @pdem answer)
2. Implementation jar's not on classpath Lets Assume BankController is your interface and CoreController is your implementation.
   If you want to load its implementation dynamically from dynamic path,c create a new module layer and load class.

Refer to the following piece of code:

        private final BankController loadController(final BankConfig config) {
            System.out.println("Loading bank with config : " + JSON.toJson(config));
            try {
                //Curent ModuleLayer is usually boot layer. but it can be different if you are using multiple layers
                ModuleLayer currentModuleLayer       = this.getClass().getModule().getLayer(); //ModuleLayer.boot();
                final Set modulePathSet        = Set.of(new File("path of implementation").toPath());
                //ModuleFinder to find modules 
                final ModuleFinder moduleFinder      = ModuleFinder.of(modulePathSet.toArray(new Path[0]));
                //I really dont know why does it requires empty finder.
                final ModuleFinder emptyFinder       = ModuleFinder.of(new Path[0]);
                //ModuleNames to be loaded
                final Set  moduleNames       = moduleFinder.findAll().stream().map(moduleRef -> moduleRef.descriptor().name()).collect(Collectors.toSet());
                // Unless you want to use URLClassloader for tomcat like situation, use Current Class Loader 
                final ClassLoader loader             = this.getClass().getClassLoader();
                //Derive new configuration from current module layer configuration
                final Configuration  configuration   = currentModuleLayer.configuration().resolveAndBind(moduleFinder, emptyFinder, moduleNames);
                //New Module layer derived from current modulee layer 
                final ModuleLayer    moduleLayer     = currentModuleLayer.defineModulesWithOneLoader(configuration, loader);
                //find module and load class Load class 
                final Class       controllerClass = moduleLayer.findModule("org.util.npci.coreconnect").get().getClassLoader().loadClass("org.util.npci.coreconnect.CoreController");
                //create new instance of Implementation, in this case org.util.npci.coreconnect.CoreController implements org.util.npci.api.BankController
                final BankController bankController  = (BankController) controllerClass.getConstructors()[0].newInstance(config);
                return bankController;
            } catch (Exception e) {BootLogger.info(e);}
            return null;
        }