Looking a bit closer in the source, and not just the public API, I did find addPackage in the private API part of Module (and the corresponding native JVM_AddModulePackage). So the capability for dynamically evolving a named module is present, supported, and utilized by Proxy!
Adding a new package isn't just for use-cases of development, modules that dynamically expand have other use cases as well, for instance classes dynamically created at runtime based on factors that cannot be determined at compile time (well, proxy is a good example of that, and as mentioned already does exactly this!). Also, as Jochen pointed out, setting up a new classloader with new layers and modules etc, is a non-trivial task, just for adding a new package -- especially considering the functionality is present, just not public. sure, from JRebel's point of view, a method being non-public isn't exactly an obstacle for us; but "normal" frameworks don't have that luxury. /Michael
