Compiling a java program into an executable

I would use GCJ (GNU Compiler for Java) in your situation. It's an AOT (ahead of time) compiler for Java, much like GCC is for C. Instead of interpreting code, or generating intermediate java code to be run at a later time by the Java VM, it generates machine code.

GCJ is available on almost any Linux system through its respective package manager (if available). After installation, the GCJ compiler should be added to the path so that it can be invoked through the terminal. If you're using Windows, you can download and install GCJ through Cygwin or MinGW.

I would strongly recommend, however, that you rewrite your source for another language that is meant to be compiled, such as C++. Java is meant to be a portable, interpreted language. Compiling it to machine code is completely against what the language was developed for.


I use launch4j

ANT Command:

<target name="jar" depends="compile, buildDLLs, copy">
    <jar basedir="${java.bin.dir}" destfile="${build.dir}/Project.jar" manifest="META-INF/MANIFEST.MF" />
</target>

<target name="exe" depends="jar">
    <exec executable="cmd" dir="${launch4j.home}">
        <arg line="/c launch4jc.exe ${basedir}/${launch4j.dir}/L4J_ProjectConfig.xml" />
    </exec>
</target>

You can convert .jar file to .exe on these ways:
alt text
(source: viralpatel.net)

1- JSmooth .exe wrapper:
 JSmooth is a Java Executable Wrapper. It creates native Windows launchers (standard .exe) for your java applications. It makes java deployment much smoother and user-friendly, as it is able to find any installed Java VM by itself. When no VM is available, the wrapper can automatically download and install a suitable JVM, or simply display a message or redirect the user to a web site.

JSmooth provides a variety of wrappers for your java application, each of them having their own behaviour: Choose your flavour!

Download: http://jsmooth.sourceforge.net/

2- JarToExe 1.8
Jar2Exe is a tool to convert jar files into exe files. Following are the main features as describe in their website:

  • Can generate “Console”, “Windows GUI”, “Windows Service” three types of exe files.
  • Generated exe files can add program icons and version information.
  • Generated exe files can encrypt and protect java programs, no temporary files will be generated when program runs.
  • Generated exe files provide system tray icon support.
  • Generated exe files provide record system event log support.
  • Generated windows service exe files are able to install/uninstall itself, and support service pause/continue.
  • New release of x64 version, can create 64 bits executives. (May 18, 2008)
  • Both wizard mode and command line mode supported. (May 18, 2008)

Download: http://www.brothersoft.com/jartoexe-75019.html

3- Executor
 Package your Java application as a jar, and Executor will turn the jar into a Windows exe file, indistinguishable from a native application. Simply double-clicking the exe file will invoke the Java Runtime Environment and launch your application.

Download: http://mpowers.net/executor/

EDIT: The above link is broken, but here is the page (with working download) from the Internet Archive. http://web.archive.org/web/20090316092154/http://mpowers.net/executor/

4- Advanced Installer
Advanced Installer lets you create Windows MSI installs in minutes. This also has Windows Vista support and also helps to create MSI packages in other languages.
Download: http://www.advancedinstaller.com/ Let me know other tools that you have used to convert JAR to EXE.

Tags:

Java

Compilation

Executable

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