Preferred way of loading resources in Java

Question

I would like to know the best way of loading a resource in Java:

• this.getClass().getResource() (or getResourceAsStream()),
• Thread.c

Answer 1

Well, it partly depends what you want to happen if you're actually in a derived class.

For example, suppose SuperClass is in A.jar and SubClass is in B.jar, and you're executing code in an instance method declared in SuperClass but where this refers to an instance of SubClass. If you use this.getClass().getResource() it will look relative to SubClass, in B.jar. I suspect that's usually not what's required.

Personally I'd probably use Foo.class.getResourceAsStream(name) most often - if you already know the name of the resource you're after, and you're sure of where it is relative to Foo, that's the most robust way of doing it IMO.

Of course there are times when that's not what you want, too: judge each case on its merits. It's just the "I know this resource is bundled with this class" is the most common one I've run into.