[java] How do I "decompile" Java class files?

What program can I use to decompile a class file? Will I actually get Java code, or is it just JVM assembly code?

On Java performance questions on this site I often see responses from people who have "decompiled" the Java class file to see how the compiler optimizes certain things.

This question is related to java decompiler

The answer is


Procyon includes a decompiler. It is FOSS.


I use JAD Decompiler.

There is an Eclipse plugin for it, jadeclipse. It is pretty nice.


Take a look at cavaj.


If you want to see how the Java compiler does certain things, you don't want decompilation, you want disassembly. Decompilation involves transforming the bytecode into Java source, meaning that a lot of low level information is lost, and if you're wondering about compiler optimization, this is probably the very information you're interested in.

Anyway, I happen to have written an open source Java disassembler. Unlike Javap, this works even on highly pathological classes, so you can see what obfuscation tools are doing to your classes as well. It can also do decompilation, though I wouldn't recommend it.


Most decompilers for Java are based on JAD. It's a great tool, but unfortunately hasn't been updated for a while and does not handle Java 1.5+ classes very well. I have not seen any tools that will properly handle 1.5+ classes.


Procyon includes a decompiler. It is FOSS.


Soot is an option for newer Java code. At least it has the advantage of still being recently maintained...

Also, Java Decompiler is a decompiler with both a stand-alone GUI and Eclipse integration.

Lastly, Jdec hasn't been mentioned, though it's not as polished as other options.


There are a few decompilers out there... A quick search yields:

  1. Procyon: open-source (Apache 2) and actively developed
  2. Krakatau: open-source (GPLv3) and actively developed
  3. CFR: open-source (MIT) and actively developed
  4. JAD
  5. DJ Java Decompiler
  6. Mocha

And many more.

These produce Java code. Java comes with something that lets you see JVM byte code (javap).


To see Java source code check some decompiler. Go search for jad.

If you want to see bytecodes, just use javap which comes with the JDK.


If you want to see how the Java compiler does certain things, you don't want decompilation, you want disassembly. Decompilation involves transforming the bytecode into Java source, meaning that a lot of low level information is lost, and if you're wondering about compiler optimization, this is probably the very information you're interested in.

Anyway, I happen to have written an open source Java disassembler. Unlike Javap, this works even on highly pathological classes, so you can see what obfuscation tools are doing to your classes as well. It can also do decompilation, though I wouldn't recommend it.


Most decompilers for Java are based on JAD. It's a great tool, but unfortunately hasn't been updated for a while and does not handle Java 1.5+ classes very well. I have not seen any tools that will properly handle 1.5+ classes.


There are a few decompilers out there... A quick search yields:

  1. Procyon: open-source (Apache 2) and actively developed
  2. Krakatau: open-source (GPLv3) and actively developed
  3. CFR: open-source (MIT) and actively developed
  4. JAD
  5. DJ Java Decompiler
  6. Mocha

And many more.

These produce Java code. Java comes with something that lets you see JVM byte code (javap).


Take a look at cavaj.


For OSX I recommend: jarzilla or JD-GUI

They both allow you to view jar,war,etc. file content and decompiles any class files inside of them.

Jarzilla: https://code.google.com/p/jarzilla/
JD-GUI: http://jd.benow.ca/


Soot is an option for newer Java code. At least it has the advantage of still being recently maintained...

Also, Java Decompiler is a decompiler with both a stand-alone GUI and Eclipse integration.

Lastly, Jdec hasn't been mentioned, though it's not as polished as other options.


To see Java source code check some decompiler. Go search for jad.

If you want to see bytecodes, just use javap which comes with the JDK.


There are a few programs you can use. You will get the actual Java code, but sometimes the code will have been obfuscated so methods are named by one letter or number or a random mix of letters and numbers.

DJ Decompiler Mocha


Most decompilers for Java are based on JAD. It's a great tool, but unfortunately hasn't been updated for a while and does not handle Java 1.5+ classes very well. I have not seen any tools that will properly handle 1.5+ classes.


JD-GUI is really good. You could just open a JAR file and browse through the code as if you are working on an IDE. Good stuff.


Most decompilers for Java are based on JAD. It's a great tool, but unfortunately hasn't been updated for a while and does not handle Java 1.5+ classes very well. I have not seen any tools that will properly handle 1.5+ classes.


Take a look at cavaj.


  • JAD is one that works and is simple.

  • Also, if you just want to see the methods, use javap.


Here's a list of decompilers as of Feb 2015:

Procyon, open-source, https://bitbucket.org/mstrobel/procyon/wiki/Java%20Decompiler

CFR, free, no source-code available, http://www.benf.org/other/cfr/

JD, free for non-commercial use only, http://jd.benow.ca/

Fernflower, open-source, https://github.com/fesh0r/fernflower,

JAD – given here only for historical reason. Free, no source-code available, http://varaneckas.com/jad/ Outdated, unsupported and does not decompile correctly Java 5 and later.

You may test above-mentioned decompilers online, no installation required and make your own educated choice.

Java decompilers in the cloud: http://www.javadecompilers.com/


All of the JAD links listed so far far seem to be broken, so I found this site. Works great (for Linux, at least)! On Ubuntu 11.10 I had to download the static one for whatever reason.

http://www.varaneckas.com/jad


  • JAD is one that works and is simple.

  • Also, if you just want to see the methods, use javap.


JAD doesn't work for me (Ubuntu 11.10 issue) so I've moved forward and sopped on JODO. At least it has Open Java source code and been able to decompile my .class properly.

I recommend to check out 'branches/generic' branch first. The trunks is not stable.


I use JAD Decompiler.

There is an Eclipse plugin for it, jadeclipse. It is pretty nice.


On IntelliJ IDEA platform you can use Java Decompiler IntelliJ Plugin. It allows you to display all the Java sources during your debugging process, even if you do not have them all. It is based on the famous tools JD-GUI.

enter image description here


Take a look at cavaj.


There are a few programs you can use. You will get the actual Java code, but sometimes the code will have been obfuscated so methods are named by one letter or number or a random mix of letters and numbers.

DJ Decompiler Mocha


All of the JAD links listed so far far seem to be broken, so I found this site. Works great (for Linux, at least)! On Ubuntu 11.10 I had to download the static one for whatever reason.

http://www.varaneckas.com/jad


I use JAD Decompiler.

There is an Eclipse plugin for it, jadeclipse. It is pretty nice.


I tried several, and Procyon seemed to work the best for me. It's under active development and supports many features of the latest versions of Java.

These are the others I tried:

  • CFR
    • Promising, but often failed method decompilation. I'll be keeping my eye on this one. Also actively developed with support for the latest Java features.
  • Krakatau
    • Takes a different approach in that it tries to output equivalent Java code instead of trying to reconstruct the original source, which has the potential of making it better for obfuscated code. From my testing it was roughly on par with Procyon, but still nice to have something different. I did have to use the -skip command-line flag so it wouldn't stop on errors. Actively developed, and interestingly enough it's written in Python.
  • JD-GUI
  • JAD
    • Worked, but only supports Java 1.4 and below. Also available as an Eclipse plugin. No longer under development.

JAD doesn't work for me (Ubuntu 11.10 issue) so I've moved forward and sopped on JODO. At least it has Open Java source code and been able to decompile my .class properly.

I recommend to check out 'branches/generic' branch first. The trunks is not stable.


There are a few decompilers out there... A quick search yields:

  1. Procyon: open-source (Apache 2) and actively developed
  2. Krakatau: open-source (GPLv3) and actively developed
  3. CFR: open-source (MIT) and actively developed
  4. JAD
  5. DJ Java Decompiler
  6. Mocha

And many more.

These produce Java code. Java comes with something that lets you see JVM byte code (javap).


There are a few programs you can use. You will get the actual Java code, but sometimes the code will have been obfuscated so methods are named by one letter or number or a random mix of letters and numbers.

DJ Decompiler Mocha


I tried several, and Procyon seemed to work the best for me. It's under active development and supports many features of the latest versions of Java.

These are the others I tried:

  • CFR
    • Promising, but often failed method decompilation. I'll be keeping my eye on this one. Also actively developed with support for the latest Java features.
  • Krakatau
    • Takes a different approach in that it tries to output equivalent Java code instead of trying to reconstruct the original source, which has the potential of making it better for obfuscated code. From my testing it was roughly on par with Procyon, but still nice to have something different. I did have to use the -skip command-line flag so it wouldn't stop on errors. Actively developed, and interestingly enough it's written in Python.
  • JD-GUI
  • JAD
    • Worked, but only supports Java 1.4 and below. Also available as an Eclipse plugin. No longer under development.

JD-GUI is really good. You could just open a JAR file and browse through the code as if you are working on an IDE. Good stuff.


On IntelliJ IDEA platform you can use Java Decompiler IntelliJ Plugin. It allows you to display all the Java sources during your debugging process, even if you do not have them all. It is based on the famous tools JD-GUI.

enter image description here


With AndroChef Java Decompiler you can decompile apk, dex, jar and java class-files. It's simple and easy. AndroChef JD is based on FernFlower. You can evaluate it in 10 free uses.

AndroChef supports Java language features like generics, enums and annotations. According to some studies, AndroChef Java Decompiler is able to decompile 98.04% of Java applications generated with traditional Java compilers - a very high recovery rate. It is simple but powerful tool that allows you to decompile Java and Dalvik bytecode (DEX, APK) into readable Java source.


To see Java source code check some decompiler. Go search for jad.

If you want to see bytecodes, just use javap which comes with the JDK.


Here's a list of decompilers as of Feb 2015:

Procyon, open-source, https://bitbucket.org/mstrobel/procyon/wiki/Java%20Decompiler

CFR, free, no source-code available, http://www.benf.org/other/cfr/

JD, free for non-commercial use only, http://jd.benow.ca/

Fernflower, open-source, https://github.com/fesh0r/fernflower,

JAD – given here only for historical reason. Free, no source-code available, http://varaneckas.com/jad/ Outdated, unsupported and does not decompile correctly Java 5 and later.

You may test above-mentioned decompilers online, no installation required and make your own educated choice.

Java decompilers in the cloud: http://www.javadecompilers.com/


There are a few decompilers out there... A quick search yields:

  1. Procyon: open-source (Apache 2) and actively developed
  2. Krakatau: open-source (GPLv3) and actively developed
  3. CFR: open-source (MIT) and actively developed
  4. JAD
  5. DJ Java Decompiler
  6. Mocha

And many more.

These produce Java code. Java comes with something that lets you see JVM byte code (javap).


With AndroChef Java Decompiler you can decompile apk, dex, jar and java class-files. It's simple and easy. AndroChef JD is based on FernFlower. You can evaluate it in 10 free uses.

AndroChef supports Java language features like generics, enums and annotations. According to some studies, AndroChef Java Decompiler is able to decompile 98.04% of Java applications generated with traditional Java compilers - a very high recovery rate. It is simple but powerful tool that allows you to decompile Java and Dalvik bytecode (DEX, APK) into readable Java source.


To see Java source code check some decompiler. Go search for jad.

If you want to see bytecodes, just use javap which comes with the JDK.


For OSX I recommend: jarzilla or JD-GUI

They both allow you to view jar,war,etc. file content and decompiles any class files inside of them.

Jarzilla: https://code.google.com/p/jarzilla/
JD-GUI: http://jd.benow.ca/


There are a few programs you can use. You will get the actual Java code, but sometimes the code will have been obfuscated so methods are named by one letter or number or a random mix of letters and numbers.

DJ Decompiler Mocha