Class.getResource and ClassLoader.getSystemResource: is there a reason to prefer one to another?

Question

I saw both Class.getResource and ClassLoader.getSystemResource used to locate a resource in Java. Is there any reason to prefer one to another?

Answer 1

ClassLoader.getSystemResource() will use the bootstrap (system) classloader.

Class.getResource() will use that particular instance of Class's classloader, in other words whatever classloader was used to load that class. This may be a different classloader than the system classloader.