Difference between jar and war in Java

Question

What is the difference between a .jar and a .war file?
Is it only the file extension or is there something more?

Answer 1

From Java Tips: Difference between ear jar and war files:

These files are simply zipped files using the java jar tool. These files are created for different purposes. Here is the description of these files:

• .jar files: The .jar files contain libraries, resources and accessories files like property files.

• .war files: The war file contains the web application that can be deployed on any servlet/jsp container. The .war file contains jsp, html, javascript and other files necessary for the development of web applications.

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Official Sun/Oracle descriptions:

• The J2EETM Tutorial: Web Application Archives
• The Java Archive (JAR) File Format: The Basics

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Wikipedia articles:

• WAR file format (Sun)
• JAR file