Converting JARs to executables (JAR to EXE)
Recently, I found out that Java the program I wrote ages ago has been alive and kicking and, even more, distributed as a single EXE with an install program. I was a bit surprised, as the last stage I left it it, was only a JAR file (with no sources available)
Looking a bit into it I found out how it can be easily done, which may be useful one day. Not that I want to write Windows programs, but…
- The installation can be done using Install Creator. The freeware version displays a small ad at the end of the process, but otherwise is free and looks ok.
- For the Java-to-EXE conversion there’s a nice comparison and discussion. In this particular case they used exe4j, which is commercial, but there’s a number of other free tools around.
All in all, I must admit they did a good job making my program more user friendly and easier to use. It’s probably a good idea if your target users use a Windows platform (my original program is portable, but I’ve never seen anyone use it on anything but Windows)…
October 23rd, 2007 at 8:23 am
Simply Geart!!!!!!!!!!