@ -164,18 +164,43 @@ The classpath is deduced from the nested jars.
[[executable-jar-exploded-archives]]
[[executable-jar-exploded-archives]]
=== Exploded Archives
=== Containers and Exploded Archives
Certain PaaS implementations may choose to unpack archives before they run.
If you are running your application from a container, you can use the unexploded jar file as above, but it is also often an advantage to explode it and run it in a different way.
Certain PaaS implementations may also choose to unpack archives before they run.
For example, Cloud Foundry operates this way.
For example, Cloud Foundry operates this way.
You can run an unpacked archive by starting the appropriate launcher, as follows:
The simplest way to run an unpacked archive is by starting the appropriate launcher, as follows:
This is actually slightly faster on startup (depending on the size of the jar) than running from an unexploded archive.
At runtime you shouldn't expect any differences.
Once you have unpacked the jar file, you can also get an extra boost to startup time by running the app with its "natural" main method instead of the `JarLauncher`. For example:
More efficient container images can also be created by copying the dependencies to the image as a separate layer from the application classes and resources (which normally change more frequently).
There is more than one way to achieve this layer separation.
For example, using a `Dockerfile` you could express it in this form (assuming the jar is already unpacked at `target/dependency`):