Getting the inputstream from a classpath resource (XML file)

ClassLoader.getResourceAsStream().

As stated in the comment below, if you are in a multi-ClassLoader environment (such as unit testing, webapps, etc.) you may need to use Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader(). See http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2308188/getresourceasstream-vs-fileinputstream/2308388#comment21307593_2308388.