What is the difference between a module and a package
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Java 9 has introduced the concept of modules in Java. You can take a look at this article which explains more about modules.
Here, I will be explaining the difference between a module and a package in Java.
| Package | Module |
|---|---|
| A package cannot be deployed by itself | A module can be deployed by itself |
| A package groups together related classes | A module groups together related packages |
| Packages are present in Java right from the beginning | Modules were added by Java 9 |
| Packages were added to keep related classes together and to allow developers to have a class with the same name in a different packages | Modules were added for security reasons and to reduce the size of the JDK |
| Classes defined within a package are accessible via reflection even if they are private | Classes defined within a module are not accessible outside the module via reflection |
| Packages do not require a package descriptor | Modules require a module descriptor which is a file called module-info.java |
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