h5bp/ant-build-script — Issue #25: Which Java JDK should Windows users install?
Author: asuh
Created: 2012-02-22 07:17:00+00:00
State: open

According to the Build Script page, http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html, it says that Windows users should download Java JDK because JRE isn't enough (but doesn't cite why or any follow-up information).

I had JRE installed already and tried to run the latest build of the build script but had a few problems. When I initially ran the build script (in h5bp/build folder), most everything ran correctly but the very first error I received said it was looking for tools.jar.

It was then that I picked willy nilly the first link of the four on the page to install the JDK. Was that the right one? I assumed it would fix the problem, but it didn't Even after installing the JDK it will gave me an error that this specific tools.jar file was missing. So I just copied and pasted that file from the JDK into the JRE location it was looking for it. I noticed absolutely no different in the way Ant Build ran.

So which JDK should Windows users install? Why isn't the JRE good enough? Can I just find some random tools.jar and past it into a JRE installation? If someone provides an answer here, I'd be glad to put it into the wiki.