US Patent 7941402 Storing and using classes in databases

Methods and apparatus, including computer systems and program products, for storing and using, such as classes, in databases. One implementation provides a technique for receiving a specified name, retrieving one or more from a database, and for each resource, one or more attributes associated with the resource, wherein each comprises executable instruction code, and wherein the attributes include a name that matches the specified name. The technique further provides for selecting one of the retrieved based on the attributes associated with each resource, and loading the selected into a runtime system. The attributes may include an archive name, an upload time, a package name, a checksum, a development flag, and/or a user name. By utilizing this technique, end-user or development sessions operative on application servers have the capability to use multiple different versions of classes in runtime environments without interfering with other operative sessions.