Java plugin system implementations

Using URLClassLoader

There are several ways to implement a plugin system for a Java application. One of the simplest is to use URLClassLoader. The following example will involve a bit of JavaFX code.

Suppose we have a module of a main application. This module is supposed to load plugins in form of Jars from 'plugins' folder. Initial code:

package main;

public class MainApplication extends Application
{
    @Override
    public void start(Stage primaryStage) throws Exception
    {
        File pluginDirectory=new File("plugins"); //arbitrary directory
        if(!pluginDirectory.exists())pluginDirectory.mkdir();
        VBox loadedPlugins=new VBox(6); //a container to show the visual info later
        Rectangle2D screenbounds=Screen.getPrimary().getVisualBounds();
        Scene scene=new Scene(loadedPlugins,screenbounds.getWidth()/2,screenbounds.getHeight()/2);
        primaryStage.setScene(scene);
        primaryStage.show();
    }
    public static void main(String[] a)
    {
            launch(a);
    }
}

Then, we create an interface which will represent a plugin.

package main;

public interface Plugin
{
    default void initialize()
    {
        System.out.println("Initialized "+this.getClass().getName());
    }
    default String name(){return getClass().getSimpleName();}
}

We want to load classes which implement this interface, so first we need to filter files which have a '.jar' extension:

File[] files=pluginDirectory.listFiles((dir, name) -> name.endsWith(".jar"));

If there are any files, we need to create collections of URLs and class names:

   if(files!=null && files.length>0)
    {
        ArrayList<String> classes=new ArrayList<>();
        ArrayList<URL> urls=new ArrayList<>(files.length);
        for(File file:files)
        {
            JarFile jar=new JarFile(file);
            jar.stream().forEach(jarEntry -> {
                if(jarEntry.getName().endsWith(".class"))
                {
                    classes.add(jarEntry.getName());
                }
            });
            URL url=file.toURI().toURL();
            urls.add(url);
        }
        
    }

Let's add a static HashSet to MainApplication which will hold loaded plugins:

static HashSet<Plugin> plugins=new HashSet<>();

Next, we instantiate a URLClassLoader, and iterate over class names, instantiating classes which implement Plugin interface:

URLClassLoader urlClassLoader=new URLClassLoader(urls.toArray(new URL[urls.size()]));
classes.forEach(className->{
    try
    {
        Class cls=urlClassLoader.loadClass(className.replaceAll("/",".").replace(".class","")); //transforming to binary name
        Class[] interfaces=cls.getInterfaces();
        for(Class intface:interfaces)
        {
            if(intface.equals(Plugin.class)) //checking presence of Plugin interface
            {
                Plugin plugin=(Plugin) cls.newInstance(); //instantiating the Plugin
                plugins.add(plugin);
                break;
            }
        }
    }
    catch (Exception e){e.printStackTrace();}
});

Then, we can call plugin's methods, for example, to initialize them:

if(!plugins.isEmpty())loadedPlugins.getChildren().add(new Label("Loaded plugins:"));
    plugins.forEach(plugin -> {
        plugin.initialize();
        loadedPlugins.getChildren().add(new Label(plugin.name()));
});

The final code of MainApplication:

package main;
public class MainApplication extends Application
{
    static HashSet<Plugin> plugins=new HashSet<>();
    @Override
    public void start(Stage primaryStage) throws Exception
    {
        File pluginDirectory=new File("plugins");
        if(!pluginDirectory.exists())pluginDirectory.mkdir();
        File[] files=pluginDirectory.listFiles((dir, name) -> name.endsWith(".jar"));
        VBox loadedPlugins=new VBox(6);
        loadedPlugins.setAlignment(Pos.CENTER);
        if(files!=null && files.length>0)
        {
            ArrayList<String> classes=new ArrayList<>();
            ArrayList<URL> urls=new ArrayList<>(files.length);
            for(File file:files)
            {
                JarFile jar=new JarFile(file);
                jar.stream().forEach(jarEntry -> {
                    if(jarEntry.getName().endsWith(".class"))
                    {
                        classes.add(jarEntry.getName());
                    }
                });
                URL url=file.toURI().toURL();
                urls.add(url);
            }
            URLClassLoader urlClassLoader=new URLClassLoader(urls.toArray(new URL[urls.size()]));
            classes.forEach(className->{
                try
                {
                    Class cls=urlClassLoader.loadClass(className.replaceAll("/",".").replace(".class",""));
                    Class[] interfaces=cls.getInterfaces();
                    for(Class intface:interfaces)
                    {
                        if(intface.equals(Plugin.class))
                        {
                            Plugin plugin=(Plugin) cls.newInstance();
                            plugins.add(plugin);
                            break;
                        }
                    }
                }
                catch (Exception e){e.printStackTrace();}
            });
            if(!plugins.isEmpty())loadedPlugins.getChildren().add(new Label("Loaded plugins:"));
            plugins.forEach(plugin -> {
                plugin.initialize();
                loadedPlugins.getChildren().add(new Label(plugin.name()));
            });
        }
        Rectangle2D screenbounds=Screen.getPrimary().getVisualBounds();
        Scene scene=new Scene(loadedPlugins,screenbounds.getWidth()/2,screenbounds.getHeight()/2);
        primaryStage.setScene(scene);
        primaryStage.show();
    }
    public static void main(String[] a)
    {
            launch(a);
    }
}

Let's create two plugins. Obviously, the plugin's source should be in a separate module.

package plugins;

import main.Plugin;

public class FirstPlugin implements Plugin
{
    //this plugin has default behaviour
}

Second plugin:

package plugins;

import main.Plugin;

public class AnotherPlugin implements Plugin
{
    @Override
    public void initialize() //overrided to show user's home directory
    {
        System.out.println("User home directory: "+System.getProperty("user.home"));
    }
}

These plugins have to be packaged into standard Jars - this process depends on your IDE or other tools.

When Jars will be put into 'plugins' directly, MainApplication will detect them and instantiate appropriate classes.

Remarks

If you use an IDE and/or build system, it is much easier to set up this kind of project. You create a main application module, then API module, then create a plugin module and make it dependent on the API module or both. Next, you configure where the project artifacts are to be put - in our case the compiled plugin jars can be sent straight to 'plugins' directory, thus avoiding doing manual movement.