How to Dynamically Compile and Load External Java Classes

How do you dynamically compile and load external java classes?

Take a look at JavaCompiler

The following is based on the example given in the JavaDocs

This will save a File in the testcompile directory (based on the package name requirements) and the compile the File to a Java class...

package inlinecompiler;

import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileWriter;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.Writer;
import java.net.URL;
import java.net.URLClassLoader;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;
import javax.tools.Diagnostic;
import javax.tools.DiagnosticCollector;
import javax.tools.JavaCompiler;
import javax.tools.JavaFileObject;
import javax.tools.StandardJavaFileManager;
import javax.tools.ToolProvider;

public class InlineCompiler {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(64);
        sb.append("package testcompile;\n");
        sb.append("public class HelloWorld implements inlinecompiler.InlineCompiler.DoStuff {\n");
        sb.append("    public void doStuff() {\n");
        sb.append("        System.out.println(\"Hello world\");\n");
        sb.append("    }\n");
        sb.append("}\n");

        File helloWorldJava = new File("testcompile/HelloWorld.java");
        if (helloWorldJava.getParentFile().exists() || helloWorldJava.getParentFile().mkdirs()) {

            try {
                Writer writer = null;
                try {
                    writer = new FileWriter(helloWorldJava);
                    writer.write(sb.toString());
                    writer.flush();
                } finally {
                    try {
                        writer.close();
                    } catch (Exception e) {
                    }
                }

                /** Compilation Requirements *********************************************************************************************/
                DiagnosticCollector<JavaFileObject> diagnostics = new DiagnosticCollector<JavaFileObject>();
                JavaCompiler compiler = ToolProvider.getSystemJavaCompiler();
                StandardJavaFileManager fileManager = compiler.getStandardFileManager(diagnostics, null, null);

                // This sets up the class path that the compiler will use.
                // I've added the .jar file that contains the DoStuff interface within in it...
                List<String> optionList = new ArrayList<String>();
                optionList.add("-classpath");
                optionList.add(System.getProperty("java.class.path") + File.pathSeparator + "dist/InlineCompiler.jar");

                Iterable<? extends JavaFileObject> compilationUnit
                        = fileManager.getJavaFileObjectsFromFiles(Arrays.asList(helloWorldJava));
                JavaCompiler.CompilationTask task = compiler.getTask(
                    null, 
                    fileManager, 
                    diagnostics, 
                    optionList, 
                    null, 
                    compilationUnit);
                /********************************************************************************************* Compilation Requirements **/
                if (task.call()) {
                    /** Load and execute *************************************************************************************************/
                    System.out.println("Yipe");
                    // Create a new custom class loader, pointing to the directory that contains the compiled
                    // classes, this should point to the top of the package structure!
                    URLClassLoader classLoader = new URLClassLoader(new URL[]{new File("./").toURI().toURL()});
                    // Load the class from the classloader by name....
                    Class<?> loadedClass = classLoader.loadClass("testcompile.HelloWorld");
                    // Create a new instance...
                    Object obj = loadedClass.newInstance();
                    // Santity check
                    if (obj instanceof DoStuff) {
                        // Cast to the DoStuff interface
                        DoStuff stuffToDo = (DoStuff)obj;
                        // Run it baby
                        stuffToDo.doStuff();
                    }
                    /************************************************************************************************* Load and execute **/
                } else {
                    for (Diagnostic<? extends JavaFileObject> diagnostic : diagnostics.getDiagnostics()) {
                        System.out.format("Error on line %d in %s%n",
                                diagnostic.getLineNumber(),
                                diagnostic.getSource().toUri());
                    }
                }
                fileManager.close();
            } catch (IOException | ClassNotFoundException | InstantiationException | IllegalAccessException exp) {
                exp.printStackTrace();
            }
        }
    }

    public static interface DoStuff {

        public void doStuff();
    }

}

Now updated to include suppling a classpath for the compiler and loading and execution of the compiled class!

Dynamically loading a class at the Client side program

You should load compiled class, not the source code. Try to compile the class before uploading it to the server, and then send the produced by compiler *.class file instead of *.java file.
You can compile the class using command line compiler:
javac MyClass.java - it will produce the compiled MyClass.class file in the same directory (or use compile/build command from your IDE and look for the compiled class in the output directory of the IDE - I am using IntelliJ/Eclipse so I am not sure which one it will be in the NetBeans).

How do I programmatically compile and instantiate a Java class?

How do I load a Java Class that is not compiled?

You need to compile it first. This can be done programmatically with the javax.tools API. This only requires the JDK being installed at the local machine on top of JRE.

Here's a basic kickoff example (leaving obvious exception handling aside):

// Prepare source somehow.
String source = "package test; public class Test { static { System.out.println(\"hello\"); } public Test() { System.out.println(\"world\"); } }";

// Save source in .java file.
File root = new File("/java"); // On Windows running on C:\, this is C:\java.
File sourceFile = new File(root, "test/Test.java");
sourceFile.getParentFile().mkdirs();
Files.write(sourceFile.toPath(), source.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));

// Compile source file.
JavaCompiler compiler = ToolProvider.getSystemJavaCompiler();
compiler.run(null, null, null, sourceFile.getPath());

// Load and instantiate compiled class.
URLClassLoader classLoader = URLClassLoader.newInstance(new URL[] { root.toURI().toURL() });
Class<?> cls = Class.forName("test.Test", true, classLoader); // Should print "hello".
Object instance = cls.newInstance(); // Should print "world".
System.out.println(instance); // Should print "test.Test@hashcode".

Which yields like

hello
world
test.Test@ab853b

Further use would be more easy if those classes implements a certain interface which is already in the classpath.

SomeInterface instance = (SomeInterface) cls.newInstance();

Otherwise you need to involve the Reflection API to access and invoke the (unknown) methods/fields.

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That said and unrelated to the actual problem:

properties.load(new FileInputStream(new File("ClassName.properties")));

Letting java.io.File rely on current working directory is recipe for portability trouble. Don't do that. Put that file in classpath and use ClassLoader#getResourceAsStream() with a classpath-relative path.

properties.load(Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader().getResourceAsStream("ClassName.properties"));

Compile dynamically java class web project

Get it working.

I have to make that change mentioned by @NicolasFilotto, to use parent classloader when using a webapp.
After that, for JavaCompiler works, as I'm using external libraries it's necessary to pass my classpath like mentioned on my last edit.
Basically the code changed to:

public static Class<?> compile(ClassLoader parent, String className, String sourceCodeInText) throws Exception {
        SourceCode sourceCode = new SourceCode(className, sourceCodeInText);
        CompiledCode compiledCode = new CompiledCode(className);
        Iterable<? extends JavaFileObject> compilationUnits = Arrays.asList(sourceCode);
        DynamicClassLoader cl = new DynamicClassLoader(parent);
        ExtendedStandardJavaFileManager fileManager = new ExtendedStandard(
                javac.getStandardFileManager(null, null, null), compiledCode, cl);

        // set the classpath
        List<String> options = new ArrayList<String>();

        options.add("-classpath");
        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
        Enumeration<URL> resources = parent.getResources("/");
        while (resources.hasMoreElements()) {
            URL url = resources.nextElement();
            sb.append(url.getFile()).append(File.pathSeparator);
        }

        options.add(sb.toString());

        // execute the compiler
        Boolean call = javac.getTask(null, fileManager, null, options, null, compilationUnits).call();
        if (call) {
            return cl.loadClass(className);
        }
        return null;
    }

Using wildfly I had to change URLClassLoader urlClassLoader = (URLClassLoader) parent; to Enumeration<URL> resources = parent.getResources("/");

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