Invoke java class static initialization via VM option

Question

Is there any way to force static initialization of some class B before entering the main() method of class A, without changing class A, using only VM options?

Answer 1

you could create a class that initializes other classes and then calls the real main method, e.g:

public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
    Class<?> mainClass = Class.forName(System.getProperty("mainClass"));

    for (String className : System.getProperty("initClasses").split(";")) {
        Class.forName(className);
    }

    Method main = mainClass.getMethod("main", String[].class);
    main.invoke(null, new Object[] { args });
}

Then you would start the application with that class as the main class and specify the real main class and the classes to be initialized via properties.