public interface ClassLoaderResolver
{
    /**
     * Class loading method, allowing specification of a primary loader. This method does not initialize the class
     * @param name Name of the Class to be loaded
     * @param primary the primary ClassLoader to use (or null)
     * @return The Class given the name, using the specified ClassLoader
     * @throws ClassNotResolvedException if the class can't be found in the classpath
     */
    public Class classForName(String name, ClassLoader primary);

    /**
     * Class loading method, allowing specification of a primary loader
     * and whether the class should be initialised or not.
     * @param name Name of the Class to be loaded
     * @param primary the primary ClassLoader to use (or null)
     * @param initialize whether to initialize the class or not.
     * @return The Class given the name, using the specified ClassLoader
     * @throws ClassNotResolvedException if the class can't be found in the classpath
     */
    public Class classForName(String name, ClassLoader primary, boolean initialize);

    /**
     * Class loading method. This method does not initialize the class
     * @param name Name of the Class to be loaded
     * @return The Class given the name, using the specified ClassLoader
     */
    public Class classForName(String name);

    /**
     * Class loading method, allowing for initialisation of the class.
     * @param name Name of the Class to be loaded
     * @param initialize whether to initialize the class or not.
     * @return The Class given the name, using the specified ClassLoader
     */
    public Class classForName(String name, boolean initialize);

    /**
     * Method to test whether the type represented by the specified class_2 
     * parameter can be converted to the type represented by class_name_1 parameter.
     * @param class_name_1 Class name
     * @param class_2 Class to compare against
     * @return Whether they are assignable
     */
    public boolean isAssignableFrom(String class_name_1, Class class_2);

    /**
     * Method to test whether the type represented by the specified class_name_2 
     * parameter can be converted to the type represented by class_1 parameter.
     * @param class_1 First class
     * @param class_name_2 Class name to compare against
     * @return Whether they are assignable
     */
    public boolean isAssignableFrom(Class class_1, String class_name_2);

    /**
     * Method to test whether the type represented by the specified class_name_2 
     * parameter can be converted to the type represented by class_name_1 parameter.
     * @param class_name_1 Class name
     * @param class_name_2 Class name to compare against
     * @return Whether they are assignable
     */
    public boolean isAssignableFrom(String class_name_1, String class_name_2);
    
    /**
     * ClassLoader registered to load classes created at runtime. One ClassLoader can
     * be registered, and if one ClassLoader is already registered, the registered ClassLoader
     * is replaced by loader.
     * @param loader The ClassLoader in which classes are defined
     */
    public void registerClassLoader(ClassLoader loader);

    /**
     * Finds all the resources with the given name.
     * @param resourceName the resource name. If resourceName starts with "/", remove it before searching.
     * @return An enumeration of URL objects for the resource. If no resources could be found, the enumeration will be empty. 
     * Resources that the class loader doesn't have access to will not be in the enumeration.
     * @throws IOException If I/O errors occur
     * @see ClassLoader#getResources(java.lang.String)
     */
    public Enumeration getResources(String resourceName) throws IOException;
    
    /**
     * Finds the resource with the given name.
     * @param resourceName the path to resource name relative to the classloader root path. If resourceName starts with "/", remove it.   
     * @return A URL object for reading the resource, or null if the resource could not be found or the invoker doesn't 
                    have adequate privileges to get the resource. 
     * @throws IOException If I/O errors occur
     * @see ClassLoader#getResource(java.lang.String)
     */
    public URL getResource(String resourceName);