Bean.instanciate() Vs. new Object()

[Paul Medford]

Does anyone know the difference between creating an object using the new keyword and Beans.instantiate() as shown below?
modelManager = (ModelManager) Beans.instantiate(this.getClass().getClassLoader(), "com.sun.j2ee.blueprints.petstore.control.web.ModelManager");
(Code taken from the PetStore MainServlet.java).
Thanks,
Francois

[David Kane]

new will always create a new object.
Bean instantiate may reuse an existing serialized instance if available. Check out: java.lang.ClassLoader," TARGET=_blank rel="nofollow">http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/docs/api/java/beans/Beans.html#instantiate(java.lang.ClassLoader, java.lang.String, java.beans.beancontext.BeanContext, java.beans.AppletInitializer)
David
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David Kane
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Author of Software Architecture: Organizational Principles and Patterns
http://www.vraps.com
http://www.houseofyin.com

[Marilyn de Queiroz]

I think there is no difference in the end result. Using the instantiate() method is a little more flexible.

[Matt Siegel]

To me the biggest difference is when you use instantiate(), you don't have to know the Class name of the object at development time. The class that you want an instance of can be determined at runtime from a String.
Matt