Is there a "view source" for Java?

[Jake Miller]

Is there a way to view the source code for any java app/program I find online like you can with HTML (usually)? I am trying to get a better grasp of how java programs are actually written, or is it not really possible because of the JVM?

[Garrett Rowe]

There is no "view source" for Java programs, but you do have options. A *lot* of libraries that you can download and use from different sources have viewable source code. One of the best resources is the jdk that you probably have installed on your computer now. If you go to the folder where you have the jdk installed, you will find a folder called src. Unzip this folder with whatever tool you like best, and you can view the source code of all the Java library classes. It helps if you start with a class that you are most intimately experienced with using. If you know what a class/method does in a black box sense, then you will understand better what you are looking at when you *open the hood* and see *how* the class does what it does.

[KasiMurugan Ramasamy]

Hai,

If your requirement is to see the source code for a any class, you can try to use JAD(Decompiler).

You can install it in your machine and use it. And also you can use it as elcipse plugin.

[Ulf Dittmer]

 

you can try to use JAD(Decompiler).[/QB]

... keeping in mind that this is most likely illegal for any software that is licensed under a non-open/non-free license (and for open-source software you don't need it to begin with).