Recipe 26.6 Calling Java from Native Code

Problem

You need to go the other way, calling Java from C/C++ code.

Solution

Use JNI again.

Discussion

Starting from 1.1, JNI provides an interface for calling Java from C, with calls to:

1. Create a JVM

2. Load a class

3. Find and call a method from that class (e.g., main)

JNI lets you add Java to legacy code. That can be useful for a variety of purposes and lets you treat Java code as an extension language (just define or find an interface or class like Applet or Servlet, and let your customers implement it or subclass it).