Does dynamic class loading through Class.forName work with simple Class names

Question

I tried dynamic loading of classes in a simple program and intrestingly when ever i try dynamic loading of classes with simple name it fails with classnotfoundexception. this happends only if the classes are under a package other than default package.

But when i specify the full path name, the dynamic loading succeeds. The class being loaded is in the same package as the Main class.

File Main.java:

public class Main {

    public static void main(String[] args) throws InstantiationException, IllegalAccessException, ClassNotFoundException {                  
        System.out.println(Class.forName("m"));
    }
}

class m extends Main{
}

Answer 1

No, Class.forName always needs the package-qualified class name. From the parameter documentation:

className - the fully qualified name of the desired class.

The package of the calling code is irrelevant.

Answer 2

You have to put fully qualified class name for the Class here

such as System.out.println(Class.forName("com.sample.M"));

assuming

com.sample is your class package name.