Compiling to native exe

[analog999]

This might sound stupid, but give me a break please. I just installed Eclipse and am pretty impressed with it. My last dev experience with Java was using Borland JBuilder9, and prior to that I always coded and compiled from a text editor.

I'm curious if Eclipse offers an easy way to compile my java app to a windows executable (exe)?

If its not easy, is there a way to do it within Eclipse or am I going to have to look at an alternative solution?

Thanks in advance.

[r035198x]

Why do you want to make a .exe? Why not just create a runnable jar file?
If you insist on the .exe, there is no built functionality for that in Eclipse, however there are a few open source tools for that reachable via google.

[analog999]

For ease of distribution, I want the app and all dependencies compiled into one exe.

Thanks for the answer.

[r035198x]

One of the greatest advantages of Java is platform independence. Using it for platform dependent tasks rather invalidates that advantage.

[analog999]

I'm very aware of what benefits I get from using Java. Just because I'm shipping an exe to windows users doesn't mean I can't ship a jar to everyone else.

[vogella]

Eclipse RCP applications are distributed with a .exe files.

For details on Eclipse RCP please see here: Eclipse RCP - Tutorial

[dleskov]

Do a Google search for "java to exe" - the first link points to my article with plenty of information and links to tools.

(Sorry I cannot post the link here due to this forum rules)