Does system classloader load all classes in classpath even if they're not actually used?

Question

I\'m using JDK 1.6 to run a small application. However I set a very massive classpath which includes a lot of classes.

When I run the application will all classes in the

Answer 1

They are loaded when needed. But what "when needed" means, might depend on the classloader. Typically, when a class is loaded it also checks the existence of all classes it references - and it might also load them.

You can check it by adding the option -verbose to your Java JVM, it outputs then all the classes it loads, and from where.