IntelliJ IDEA Tips & Tricks #56: Easiest way to Decompile Java Bytecodes in .class Files

Java Compilation is the process of converting the source program to bytecodes stored in .class files that are executable by the Java virtual machine.

Decompilation is the process of taking those bytecodes stored in the .class files to make it human readable. The code will be *almost* same as the source code, but not exactly the same (for example, you'll see odd variable names for compiler generated temporary variables).

In IntelliJ IDEA, its trivial to decompile the .class files to human readable source code. Just open the .class file in the editor (it will be in "target" or "out" directories) and the editor will decompile the bytecodes for you!