A Reference contains the class of the object which is referenced together with a list of all the addresses at which this object may be found. Additionally the Reference has the location of a factory which can create this object together with the classname used to create the object.

The Reference class relates to objects which are not bound in a naming service but which need to be accessed via javax.naming. Reference, RefAddr and their subclasses provide a way to access objects other than those in naming and directory systems.