What is the difference between getResourceAsStream with and without getClassLoader?

Question

I\'d like to know the difference between the following two:

MyClass.class.getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream(\"path/to/my/properties\");

and

Answer 1

The main practical difference is that you can use relative paths when you go through the class. So if your properties are in the same package as MyClass, you can do

MyClass.class.getResourceAsStream("properties");