As a freelance developer, you may have come across the two commands ./gradlew run and ./gradlew jar when building and running Java applications. While both commands are useful, using ./gradlew jar to package your application into a JAR file can provide several benefits.

First, packaging your application into a JAR file creates a self-contained executable file that can be easily distributed and run on any machine with a compatible version of the Java Runtime Environment (JRE). This means that users of your application won't need to worry about installing any dependencies or libraries, as everything they need will be included in the JAR file.

Second, packaging your application into a JAR file ensures that all the required dependencies are included in the file. This is particularly useful if your application has several dependencies, as it eliminates the need to manage these dependencies separately. This can save time and reduce the risk of compatibility issues when deploying your application.

Third, running a JAR file can be faster than running the application with ./gradlew run. This is because the code is already compiled and optimized, so there's no need to recompile it every time you run the application. This can save time, particularly if your application is large and complex.

Of course, there are times when you may still want to use ./gradlew run. For example, during development, you may want to quickly test your code without having to package it into a JAR file. ./gradlew run can also be useful if you don't want to create a JAR file for some reason, such as if you're using a different packaging format.

In summary, packaging your Java application into a JAR file with ./gradlew jar has several benefits. It creates a self-contained executable file that can be easily distributed and run on any machine with a compatible JRE. It ensures that all the required dependencies are included in the file, and it can be faster than running the application with ./gradlew run. So, the next time you're building a Java application, consider using ./gradlew jar to package it.