One is an instance method, so it returns the class of the particular object, the other is a Class constant (i.e. known at compile-time).
Class n = Number.class;
Number o = 1;
o.getClass() // returns Integer.class
o = BigDecimal.ZERO;
o.getClass(); // returns BigDecimal.class
Both cases return instances of the Class object, which describes a particular Java class. For the same class, they return the same instance (there is only one Class object for every class).
A third way to get to the Class objects would be
Class n = Class.forName("java.lang.Number");
Keep in mind that interfaces also have Class objects (such as Number above).
Also, is MyClass.class a public property of the superclass Class class?
It is a language keyword.
