What’s Up Next?

Java applications with multiple JAR dependencies are sometimes messy to mass deploy due to multiple library files and the need to setup the classpath (although the latter can be done using the Manifest file). Eclipse 3.4M4 and up now has the Runnable JAR Export wizard which creates a single JAR with all your external libraries (such as log4j, swt, xstream JARs) repackaged nicely within. The idea itself is not new but what is new is that it is now integrated with Eclipse, however, there are reported problems with Spring. You can also use “Fat JAR Plugin” (on which the Eclipse wizard is based upon) or One Jar (which allows you to have JARs within a JAR using a custom class loader – around since 2004).