A method and corresponding apparatus for localization of a JAVA application using a reflection API and a custom class loader use specifics of JAVA language to provide localization of certain data elements, i.e., variables, of the application during class loading. The method and corresponding apparatus for localization reduce complexity of the JAVA application by eliminating the function code dedicated to localization. In addition, the method and apparatus for localization increase productivity of engineers who write language-independent code, and reduce memory consumption of classes that use localized strings. Since all localization is accomplished when the class is loaded and since the code that uses localization is independent of the code performing localization, the method and apparatus for localization ensure better performance of the application and afford better code reusability.