问题
I would like to know about the various options for distributing a Java application.
I know that you can
- Distribute the Source Code and let users compile it themselves, or provide make files, etc..
- Package it into a JAR, and have self extracting archives
- and (I'm sure, myriad other ways)
I'm hoping for some explanations about the most common options (and one's I haven't thought of) and in particular, do they require a user to have a JVM, or can it be bundled with one - personally I'm not too fond of an installer which halts due to a lack of JVM. Who says an app needs an installer, stand-alone solutions are fine too.
Also, worth asking is how to handle cross-platform distributing, exe's vs dmg's, etc...
My primary motivation for this question (which I appreciate is similar to others) is to find solutions that don't require the user to already have a JVM installed - but for completeness, I'm asking generally.
Thanks very much
回答1:
Distribute the Source Code and let users compile it themselves, or provide make files, etc..
This is probably ok for open source projects, but very unusual for anything commercial. I'd recommend providing it as an option for the techies, but distributing JARs also
Package it into a JAR
I'd call this the best practice
and have self extracting archives
How about making the jar executable instead?
I'm hoping for some explanations about the most common options (and one's I haven't thought of) and in particular, do they require a user to have a JVM, or can it be bundled with one - personally I'm not too fond of an installer which halts due to a lack of JVM.
I don't think it's legal to bundle JREs. That said, it's rather obvious that a java-based solution won't work without Java. OpenOffice and many others fail to install without an installed JRE. I'd say that's understandable and OK.
IzPack seems to be a good solution to create Java-based installers.
My primary motivation for this question (which I appreciate is similar to others) is to find solutions that don't require the user to already have a JVM installed
As I wrote, I think it's not legal to bundle the JRE [UPDATE: it is legal, read this document for reference] (and also not a good option, as you'd have to bundle many different OS / architecture combinations). So the only other way would be native compilation (can't help you with that, sorry).
回答2:
InstallBuilder allows you to easily distribute Java applications and bundle a JVM (although itself does not require Java, so as you mention you will never get errors because the end user does not have a JVM in the machine). It is a commercial product (diclaimer, I am the original developer) but we have discounts for small ISVs and free licenses for open source projects. It is in use by MySQL/Oracle, Jaspersoft, Alfresco, Pentaho and a bunch of other ISVs with Java-based tools and those apps have been downloaded literally millions of times with no major issues. Give it a try :)
回答3:
In general, you have a few options:
1) Java Web Start
2) Run it as an applet
3) download and install.
You are primarily interested in option 3. You have a variety of installers (InstallJammer is one, but you have others) that you can create installation packages for. Since you are looking at distributing the JVM (which you can do), then you are looking at different installer for every platform you are targeting.
回答4:
For simple products, I like to get a single executable jar. See http://one-jar.sourceforge.net/
For any big products and installer will be needed. (InstallAnywhere, Install4J, LzPack etc will help you to create one)
回答5:
Standalone app
In modern Java, you can produce a stand-alone app with a bundled JVM for a particular host OS.
For background info, read the Oracle white paper, Java Client Roadmap Update, updated 2020-05.
Modularize
First, modularize your app to support the Java Platform Module System. You can learn about this in books, presentation videos, and many blog posts.
One of the benefits of modularization is that the bundled JDK can be stripped down to include only the parts you are actually using in your app. This results in using less storage and less memory.
Obtain a Java implementation
Second, obtain an implementation of Java whose licensing terms meet your needs. Terms vary. Some are free-of-cost and some are commercial products.
Here is a flowchart I made to assist you in choosing.
Build the final app
Third, use tools such as jlink and jpackage to build the standalone app.
The tooling for this process is quickly evolving. So there may be additional tools coming to market.
Your bundled JDK has native code aimed at a particular host OS. So you will need to make a separate build of your app for each deployment platform you choose to support.
By the way, be sure to check the licensing terms of every library you include within your app.
Alternative: GraalVM
An alternative approach to ahead-of-time compile to native code using the GraalVM. This is bleeding-edge technology, so beware, but is quite promising.
来源：https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5081048/how-to-distribute-java-application