How to Open Files with the .jar Extension

What is a .jar file extension?

JAR is derived from the first letters of Java Archive. The .jar file is a popular file type used for archiving multiple java files into one file with the .jar file extension. This format is mostly used to distribute class files, applications, and libraries of Java.

What is the .jar file extension used for?

JAVA is one of the most popular programming languages used nowadays. It was designed by SUN Microsystems. The programming core is based on C and C++ programming languages. Java provides a Java Development Kit or JDK to the user for developing applications and applets. This JDK includes lots of programming modules which help the user in designing applications and one of the modules is JAR  which helps in archiving or zipping important files. These archived files are stored in one file with the .jar file extension.

The .jar file extension commonly contains auxiliary resources which will be used with applications and applets. The .jar file extension provides a variety of benefits, which are:

  1. Compression – The .jar file format helps is storing the files efficiently in a compressed format.
  2. Security – The reason the .jar file extension is used popularly is because the compressed files can be digitally signed. Programmers can use these digitally signed jar files into their java programs without any worry.
  3. Easy download – If an applet is bundled in the jar format it becomes easily downloadable, as it will be in a compressed format.
  4. Version Information – If the jar file is copyrighted, it has fields to provide version numbers and vendor information.

The .jar file extension has similarities with the .arj file and is often mistaken to be the same. Actually, the .jar file extension is not compatible with the arj file format.

What are the different kinds of software used to open the .jar file extension?

You can open the .jar file extension using the jar utility in the JDK software. You can also use any compression utility like winzip or winrar to open these files. You just have to rename the file from .jar to .zip to open it. You can also use any browser to open the .jar files. The File Cure software can be used to open .jar file extension as it not only opens the file, but repairs the file if it is corrupted.