What are native methods in Java and where should they be used?

A native method has the same syntax as an abstract method, but where is it implemented?

> What are native methods in Java and where should they be used?

Once you see a small example, it becomes clear:

Main.java:

public class Main {
    public native int intMethod(int i);
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        System.loadLibrary("Main");
        System.out.println(new Main().intMethod(2));
    }
}

Main.c:

#include <jni.h>
#include "Main.h"

JNIEXPORT jint JNICALL Java_Main_intMethod(
    JNIEnv *env, jobject obj, jint i) {
  return i * i;
}

Compile and run:

javac Main.java
javah -jni Main
gcc -shared -fpic -o libMain.so -I${JAVA_HOME}/include \
  -I${JAVA_HOME}/include/linux Main.c
java -Djava.library.path=. Main

Output:

4

Tested on Ubuntu 14.04 with Oracle JDK 1.8.0_45.

So it is clear that it allows you to:

• call a compiled dynamically loaded library (here written in C) with arbitrary assembly code from Java
• and get results back into Java

This could be used to:

• write faster code on a critical section with better CPU assembly instructions (not CPU portable)
• make direct system calls (not OS portable)

with the tradeoff of lower portability.

It is also possible for you to call Java from C, but you must first create a JVM in C: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/819536/how-to-call-java-function-from-c

Example on GitHub for you to play with.

The method is implemented in "native" code. That is, code that does not run in the JVM. It's typically written in C or C++.

Native methods are usually used to interface with system calls or libraries written in other programming languages.

> I like to know where does we use Native Methods

Ideally, not at all. In reality some functionality is not available in Java and you have to call some C code.

The methods are implemented in C code.

Java native code necessities:

• h/w access and control.
• use of commercial s/w and system services[h/w related].
• use of legacy s/w that hasn't or cannot be ported to Java.
• Using native code to perform time-critical tasks.

hope these points answers your question :)

Native methods allow you to use code from other languages such as C or C++ in your java code. You use them when java doesn't provide the functionality that you need. For example, if I were writing a program to calculate some equation and create a line graph of it, I would use java, because it is the language I am best in. However, I am also proficient in C. Say in part of my program I need to calculate a really complex equation. I would use a native method for this, because I know some C++ and I know that C++ is much faster than java, so if I wrote my method in C++ it would be quicker. Also, say I want to interact with another program or device. This would also use a native method, because C++ has something called pointers, which would let me do that.