From web link to double-clickable

Ten years ago, it would have been hard to imagine that Java would be a huge success without Java desktop applications gaining significant traction. Working with the AWT and (later) JavaBeans, it seemed like we'd be writing cross-platform GUI's, replacing the platform-dependent applications that required expensive and difficult ports (or, more often, just writing apps for one platform).

The reasons for this situation are varied -- the rise of the web application, the particulars of the various GUI toolkits, etc. -- but one significant blocker has been the lack of a rich deployment model. From day one, the designated way to launch a Java SE application has been some variant of java ClassName as a command-line argument. Aside from implying that all platforms have command lines (the "classic" Mac OS didn't!), that says nothing about double-clickability, icons, versioning, document association, etc., to say nothing about figuring out whether Java is even available on the machine, and how to install it if it isn't.

One option to provide some of this is Java Web Start. As columnist Joshua Marinacci writes in our Feature Article, Java Sketchbook: Getting Started with Java Web Start:

Java Web Start (JWS) is a technology that lets you deploy a desktop Java application directly from a web page. It provides security, safety, and automatic updates when you roll out new versions. It will even give your program an icon on the desktop. In short, Java Web Start gives you the power of a desktop app with the ease of deployment users expect from a web app.

In part one of his Web Start series, he shows the basics of providing an application via JWS. Part two will cover security, optimization, and polish.