Behavioral differences


Method
Parameter format
Lookup failure behavior
Usage example


ClassLoader.
getResourceAsStream()
"/"-separated names; no leading "/" (all names are absolute)
Silent (returns null)

this.getClass().getClassLoader()
.getResourceAsStream
("some/pkg/resource.properties")


Class.
getResourceAsStream()
"/"-separated names; leading "/" indicates absolute names; all other names are relative to the class's package
Silent (returns null)

this.getClass()
.getResourceAsStream
("resource.properties")


ResourceBundle.
getBundle()
"."-separated names; all names are absolute; .properties suffix is implied

Throws unchecked
java.util.MissingResourceException
ResourceBundle.getBundle
("some.pkg.resource")