Difference between Class.forname(" ") and Class.forName(" ").newInstance()

[Punit Jain]

is there any difference between

Class.forName("org.gjt.mm.mysql.Driver");

and

Class.forName("org.gjt.mm.mysql.Driver").newInstance();

however in the second statement a instance of the Class is created but both are giving the same output, so i want to know is there any difference between both of them??

[Rob Spoor]

The first only loads the class, the second also creates an instance. For some (mostly old) drivers this was necessary because the class wouldn't register itself properly without it. You're using an old driver though. The latest one is com.mysql.jdbc.Driver, and doesn't need the newInstance() call.

[Campbell Ritchie]

You do not need an instance of the class. If your class has a private constructor, it may throw a (checked) Exception. You should miss out the newInstance call because you do not need the instance.

[Punit Jain]

means if i m using

Class.forName("com.mysql.jdbc.Driver");

i should not worry about newInstance().

[Rob Spoor]

Campbell Ritchie wrote:You do not need an instance of the class. If your class has a private constructor, it may throw a (checked) Exception. You should miss out the newInstance call because you do not need the instance.

If I recall correctly, a few quite old JDBC drivers actually did need an instance. They were poorly written to register the driver in the constructor, not a static block. These days that should definitely not be the case anymore.

Punit Jain wrote:means if i m using

Class.forName("com.mysql.jdbc.Driver");

i should not worry about newInstance().

Nope. Just drop it.

[Punit Jain]

okay..thanks...

[Rob Spoor]

You're welcome.

[Campbell Ritchie]

Rob Spoor wrote:You're welcome.

Same here