When resolving references to classes that must be loaded on demand (i.e., are
referenced but not specified on the compiler command line), the compiler
searches both the bootclasspath and the classpath/sourcepath. If a source
file is found on the sourcepath, but a more recent class file is found on
the bootclasspath, the compiler will load the class file. It should recompile
the source, unless a class file is found on the classpath. The bootclasspath
refers to the platform one is compiling against, not the application being
compiled, and if we are compiling platform classes, these classes should be
viewed by the compiler as the application. In general, a classfile should
be assumed to correspond to a source file discovered on the sourcepath only
when it is found on the classpath, not on the bootclasspath.

william.maddox@Eng 2000-06-28