[java] What is the actual use of Class.forName("oracle.jdbc.driver.OracleDriver") while connecting to a database?

It registers the driver; something of the form:

public class SomeDriver implements Driver {
  static {
    try {
      DriverManager.registerDriver(new SomeDriver());
    } catch (SQLException e) {
      // TODO Auto-generated catch block
    }
  }

  //etc: implemented methods
}