To Bundle the JRE or Not, That is The Question
In the trenches, while revamping BlueCrestStudios the question of whether to bundle the JRE with the download of our products has come up many times. Cross platform Java installers like Install4J not only make it easy to create professional application installers with ease, but bundle an isolate JRE so the user does not have one extra step if they are with out Java. The decision is still on the table, but here is the break down:
Pros:
- Creates a installation that requires no additional Java downloads or dependencies for the user
- The user is able to use your application right after installation
- The JRE is created in an isolated manner not to interfere with other JRE’s that might be installed
- You can build against a certain JRE to make sure your code is always running with the most compatible JRE
- If someone has an archived version on your application, they can still run it even though the latest JRE might not be compatible with your code because it is an older version
Cons:
- Larger file sizes for downloads
- More bandwidth to pump out on the hosting side
- Some gurus like to use certain JRE’s and have control of them, which can lead to support problems
- Creates updates to newer code that needs a newer JRE harder
- The possibility of messing with system paths and not being so isolated
There is always the way of giving the user the ability to download a bundled JRE or not, but this adds one more step during the download process. What is your stance, to bundle or not to bundle?
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