Java Reference
In-Depth Information
WEB-INF/classes
Directory for servlets and any classes used by them or by JSPs
WEB-INF/lib
Directory for any JAR files of classes needed by classes in the
WEB-INF/classes
direct-
ory
Once you have prepared the files in this way, you just package them up with
jar
:
jar cvf MyWebApp.war .
You then deploy the resulting WAR file into your web server. For details on this, consult the
web server documentation.
“Write Once, Install Anywhere”
Problem
You want your application program to be installable on a variety of platforms by users who
have not yet earned a Ph.D. in software installation.
Solution
Use an installer.
Discussion
The process of installing desktop software is nontrivial. Unix command-line geeks are quite
happy to extract a gzipped TAR file and set their PATH manually, but if you want your soft-
ware to be used by the larger masses, you need something simpler—in other words, point
and click. Several tools try to automate this process. The better ones will create startup icons
on Mac OS, Windows, and even some of the Unix desktops (CDE, KDE, GNOME).
I had good results some years back with ZeroG Software's commercial InstallAnywhere. It
ensures that a JVM is installed and has both web-based and application installation modes
(i.e., you can install the application from a web page or you can run the installer explicitly).
