Building a java program for windows, protecting the program?

Question

Java

Hi all! The following question arose: is there a Java program that is assembled into a .jar executable, what other options are there for creating an executable file of a Java program for windows?
The question is that I have never seen distributions of commercial programs that would start with .jar.
The second question is: what can be done to protect Java code from code diggers? What are the methods, programs?

Answer 1

As far as I understand, in the same Eclipse, NetBeans, etc., an exe file is nothing more than a launcher, JAR nicknames are simply hidden from the user's eyes in the program directories, so the JRE is still required to run program, the exe-file takes over the search for the Java machine, connects the JAR-nicknames to the classpath and launches the program with all the keys necessary for its operation. With the same success, you can use even the simplest (or not so) batch file or shell script (you can peep examples in the bin / Ceylon folder).
If the goal is to rid the user of the need to download the JRE, look towards Avian: oss.readytalk.com/avian
As for the second question - as far as I know, the most common method of protection against source code scrutiny in the Java world is obfuscation. For example, it was used in Minecraft. Unfortunately (or fortunately), this is not a very reliable method.

Answer 2

To compile exe files there is Launch4j .
Regarding protection: one , two .