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Java Deployment with JNLP and WebStart Mauro Marinilli
Publisher: Sams

Java Web Start is a technology for deploying and updating desktop Java applications easily from a web server. Programmers often speak of the Java Network Launching Protocol (JNLP) interchangeably with the term "Web Start". With 6u10 we have this idea of deploying a Java app via a packaged JNLP which you drag onto the desktop. If so this way to deploy is not nicely integratable with the OS preferred way to deploy applications. To convince a user to click on a .jar instead of an .exe for installation can already be a major issue. A brief post on how to convert your existing SWT program into a web browser deployable Java Web Start application using my Hash Verifier as an example. JNLP consists of a set of rules defining how Updates of the software download from the Web become available when the user has a connection to the Internet, thus easing the burden of deployment. The JNLP protocol, defined with an XML schema, specifies how to launch Java Web Start applications. Sun has used platform independence as an excuse to do nothing or rather strange things (webstart with the java control panel) for application deployment. The advantages of this framework are numerous but one nice thing is that it allows you far more freedom then Java Network Launching Protocol (JNLP). The codebase specifies the location where java can find your files (all resources in the jnlp file are relative to this path). Java Web Start is a technology that allows easy deployment of Java based software through a web browser. Java Web Start (henceforth, jws) provides java developers with a way to let users launch and install their applications using a URL to a Java Networking Launching Protocol (.jnlp) file (essentially some xml describing the program). Since Java 6 Update 10, Sun has distributed an NPAPI plugin and ActiveX control called "Java Deployment Toolkit" to provide developers with a simpler method of distributing their applications to end users. It's much In fact, with the right JNLP, you can turn any existing applet into a JWS app without any modifications.