What is the project directory structure for a standalone Java SE application?

Question

What is the standard project directory structure of a standalone Java SE (Command Line based) application?

src folder will contain all my .java files in properly organized packages. Other than that I have bin folder which will contain my .class files.

I've Properties files and XML configuration files in my project. In which directory should I place them? Should I create a package named com.myproject.config and place all the .xml config files in that?

I want the dependent jars to be packaged along with my final package. So should I create a folder (say by the name lib) to hold all these .jar files?

You may do as you describe. There is no constraint nor better accepted way. — Denys Séguret, Jun 12 '12 at 07:19
A lot of this depends on which build tool/IDE you are using. Note that if packaging it all up yourself, it is theoretically possible to use almost any structure, while an IDE will typically set up a structure that it more commonly uses. As to *"create a package named com.myproject.config"* Yes, that seems reasonable. — Andrew Thompson, Jun 12 '12 at 07:19
BTW - is this question really more about how to **deploy** the built application to the end-user? What type of application is it? (e.g. Desktop, command line, something meant for the system tray..?) — Andrew Thompson, Jun 12 '12 at 07:21
I edited 'command line' into the question, but am still not clear on the answer to my first question. *"is this question really more about how to **deploy** the built application to the end-user?"* If not it seems the answer to this is 'use whatever structure that works for you'. — Andrew Thompson, Jun 12 '12 at 08:36

score 27 · Answer 1 · edited Jun 12 '12 at 07:24

27

I would recommend to stick with default Maven layout ( and also use maven as build tool )

Productive classes / resources:

src/main/java
src/main/resources

Test data and classes:

src/test/java
src/test/resources

Maven can also take care to package your application properly with all the necessary jars ( look for maven assembly plugin )

edited Jun 12 '12 at 07:24

Pau Kiat Wee

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answered Jun 12 '12 at 07:20

Konstantin Pribluda

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For the lazy: `mkdir -p src/{main,test}/{java,resources}` – Jonas Gröger May 12 '15 at 07:56
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More in details here: https://maven.apache.org/guides/introduction/introduction-to-the-standard-directory-layout.html – Boris Däppen Oct 24 '15 at 13:02

score 8 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 29 '16 at 12:37

src/com.enterprise_name.project_name. Main.java (the main class)

src/com.enterprise_name.project_name.model.(here all model classes)

src/com.enterprise_name.project_name.view.(here all view classes, JFrame, Jdialog,etc)

src/com.enterprise_name.project_name.view.resources.(here all the files and images used in the views *note)

src/com.enterprise_name.project_name.controller.(here all controller classes)

lib/(here all the external libraries - dont forget add to build path)

*note if you need some resource file (xml, config file, etc) create a package .resources. in the specific place where do you need (model, controller, view)

rolve · Answer 3 · 2012-06-12T07:46:55.683

As far I as know, there is no such thing as a standard project structure for Java per se. However, various tools and IDEs (such as Eclipse) do have a standard structure.

Maven, a build tool for Java, on the other hand has a very clearly defined (default) project structure. There, all Java source files are placed in the src/main/java folder and all resource files (like your config files) are placed in src/main/resources.

Here's a very quick introduction to Maven, if you don't know it yet: Maven in 5 Minutes

Regarding your question about packaging with dependencies, here is a snipped from one of my Maven POM files that uses the Assembly Plugin to create a JAR file with all dependencies included:

<plugin>
    <artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
    <configuration>
        <descriptorRefs>
            <descriptorRef>jar-with-dependencies</descriptorRef>
        </descriptorRefs>
        <archive>
            <manifest>
                <mainClass>...</mainClass>
            </manifest>
        </archive>
    </configuration>
    <executions>
        <execution>
            <id>make-assembly</id>
            <phase>package</phase>
            <goals>
                <goal>single</goal>
            </goals>
        </execution>
    </executions>
</plugin>

score 5 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 12 '12 at 07:26

A commonly used structure is the following:

src - contains all your source files, and possibly the following as well (might be far down the folder tree):
- resources - contains resources such as properties files
- config - everything config related
lib - a folder containing a your libraries, possibly placed in separate subfolderrs
bin - contains compiled classes

What is the project directory structure for a standalone Java SE application?

4 Answers4

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