Well my 2 cents ...
I feel quite comfortable with tools like CCK (Class Construction Kit) and the new (not so stable) JBE (Java Bytecode Editor) ...
These are very useful for "small" patches because they allow to not recompile all stuff
However IMHO for all serious patches ... you have to recompile (even if most of the time you need a linux or mac box (or VM image
) ... for the case-sensitiveness)
Best Regards,
Tony