diff.between jar,war and zip file

hi can anybody explain me the difference between Jar file, War file and Zip file.please reply
thanks in advance

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hi can anybody explain me the difference between Jar file, War file and Zip file.

JAR file is Java Archive, which is a compress format of Java Classes. Basically, it seems using the same format of ZIP, as you can use WinZip to unzip JAR files. However, I think if I give you a ZIP file, you may not notice that it is a Java Archive, and thus, the naming convention comes.

WAR file is another thing, although WAR file is created by the JAR utility, and is expectde to be ZIP format, the difference is, when you put a WAR file at the document root of the Application Server, it KNOWS the WAR file is a Web Application, and it will load it dynamcally. But if the file extention is NOT WAR, say JAR, the container will not load the application.
Hope this help.
Nick.