Windows applications make a distinction between libraries (DLLs) and applications (EXEs). Does Java make an equivalent distinction?
Windows applications make a distinction between libraries (DLLs) and applications (EXEs). Does Java make
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Windows applications make a distinction between libraries (DLLs) and applications (EXEs). Does Java make an equivalent distinction?
Kind of.
Most Java programs are stored in a .jar file.
If the .jar has a
mainmethod specified, it can be called similarly to a .exe where it starts the program execution. You can do this withjava -jar program.jar.But any .jar file can be loaded from another one and the code within it loaded, similarly to a .dll. This can be done even if the ‘library’ jar has a
mainmethod, it just won’t be called automatically.