Please review the webrev below. Though generally useful for debugging ClassDesc (or using Class::forName), ClassDesc::fullDisplayName allows compiler devs to use a ClassDesc directly to optimally add classes to the symbol table. Past: ClassDesc cd = ... String className = cd.packageName().isEmpty() ? cd.displayName() : cd.packageName() + "." + cd.displayName(); Symbol classSym = names.fromString(className); Future: ClassDesc cd = ... String className = cd.fullDisplayName(); Symbol classSym = names.fromString(className); JBS: https://bugs.openjdk.java.net/browse/JDK-8212975 webrev: http://cr.openjdk.java.net/~jlaskey/8212975/webrev/index.html