An internal customer reported that jmap -permstat reports more classes loaded for their class loaders than they had expected, because the tool currently reports all classes loaded for a classloader, i.e. the sum of the classes for which the class loader is the defining loader and the classes for which the class loader is the initiating loader.

What is reported today for each class loader is an accurate reflection of the number
of classes and bytes that the given class loader retains in permgen, i.e. those bytes
can not go away as long as that class loader is still loaded. It is important to
continue to give that information, since customers use this data to figure out why
they are using so much memory in permgen.

The total classes and total bytes reported are not accurate - they are the sum
of the classes and bytes retained for each class loader. However, since the
classes are only actually loaded by the defining loader, the total classes and
total bytes are incremented both for the defining loader and for each additional
initiating loader.