How can I open Java .class files in a human-readable way?

Question

I\'m trying to figure out what a Java applet\'s class file is doing under the hood. Opening it up with Notepad or Textpad just shows a bunch of gobbledy-gook.

Is the

Answer 1

cpuguru, if your applet has been compiled with javac 1.3 (or less), your best option is to use Jad.

Unfortunately, the last JDK supported by JAD 1.5.8 (Apr 14, 2001) is JDK 1.3.

If your applet has been compiled with a more recent compiler, you could try JD-GUI : this decompiler is under development, nevertheless, it generates correct Java sources, most of time, for classes compiled with the JDKs 1.4, 1.5 or 1.6.

DarenW, thank you for your post. JD-GUI is not the best decompiler yet ... but I'm working on :)