Difference between jar and war in Java
WAR stands for Web application ARchive
JAR stands for Java ARchive
From Java Tips: Difference between ear jar and war files:
These files are simply zipped files using the java jar tool. These files are created for different purposes. Here is the description of these files:
.jar files: The .jar files contain libraries, resources and accessories files like property files.
.war files: The war file contains the web application that can be deployed on any servlet/jsp container. The .war file contains jsp, html, javascript and other files necessary for the development of web applications.
Official Sun/Oracle descriptions:
- The J2EETM Tutorial: Web Application Archives
- The Java Archive (JAR) File Format: The Basics
Wikipedia articles:
- WAR file format (Sun)
- JAR file