Difference between jar and war in Java

WAR stands for Web application ARchive

JAR stands for Java ARchive

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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

Tags:

Java

Jar

War