Java 2D Game - I Don't Understand Some Code

Question

BufferedImage image;
image = ImageIO.read(SpriteSheet.class.getResourceAsStream(path));

I am currently making a 2D Java Game, as per an exercise in a course I am taking; however, there are a couple of things I do not understand here. The first thing I am not too sure about is:

SpriteSheet.class

I have never seen .class ever be used before. What exactly is it? Furthermore, why does just putting in path in the getResourceAsStream method work. Is it because I have the SpriteSheet in a res folder, which is in the program's build path.

Thank you for the help!

Answer 1

.class refers to the Class object for a given class.

for example, Integer.class will refer to the Class object for java.lang.Integer .

getResourceAsStream() will return an InputStream pointing to a file in the current classpath.