title: Class object in Objective C
body: <p>I am coming from Java to Objective C, and the idea of a <strong>class object</strong> has me wondering about similarities with Java. From the Objective C guide in Apple documentation:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>A class definition's information is compiled and recorded in data structures made available to the runtime systems. The compiler creates just one object, a <strong>class object</strong>, to represent the class. </p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>So my understanding is that the class object is created for all classes that are going to be used by the program, and a class object is what is used to create objects for that class.</p>
  
  <p>For comparison, does the JVM have a similar object for all classes it loads?  </p>