3.7. Class Loading and Subdeployments

Enterprise Archives (EAR) are not loaded as a single module like JAR or WAR deployments. They are loaded as multiple unique modules.

The following rules determine what modules exist in an EAR.

These modules have the same behavior as any other module with the following additional implicit dependencies:

The implicit dependencies described above occur because JBoss EAP 6 has subdeployment class loader isolation disabled by default.

Subdeployment class loader isolation can be enabled if strict compatibility is required. This can be enabled for a single EAR deployment or for all EAR deployments. The Java EE 6 specification recommends that portable applications should not rely on subdeployments being able to access each other unless dependencies are explicitly declared as Class-Path entries in the MANIFEST.MF file of each subdeployment.