> Is a fatjar/shadowjar not a "single binary"?

No, it isn't. `go build` is a single binary.

Technically speaking, what’s the difference between native binary requiring some set of OS APIs or portable binary requiring a VM layer on top of OS? User experience can be the same, you can run those things from command line, pipe inputs and outputs etc.

the difference might be expectations that the OS api exists and does not require an installation pre-execution of the binary.

On the other hand, i think the jvm, like python, ought to be part of a standard install of an OS tbh. Then there would really be no difference.

You can package a JVM into a binary executable, no need for a system JVM that way.

You can compile java aot into binary executable native to your platform. There's many options to do it.

You can do it with a fatjar so that all the dependencies are there. You have all the dependencies clearly stated and versioned (and they are referenced globally - so you don't need to remember where you downloaded that one library from or how to compile that weird dll).

Of course if you actually care about being able to run the code in 20 years - you're far better off leaving it as a fatjar instead of making it an executable.

I have java programs that I made 20 years ago when I was at university that still run on my modern linux machine.

I also wrote C++ programs back then and none of the executables work out of the box (even building one of them is a struggle because half the libraries I used were abandoned - RIP libparagui, some you can't even download from the internet anymore, and most that you can download - don't have versions working with the most recent libc).

That despite the fact I tried to make a static executable for linux when I compiled it back then. I just failed.

I spent a week like 10 years ago trying to make my master's thesis program run again. I basically had to port it to a different graphic library because of dependency hell.

Granted this was years ago when I was a noob. I could not figure it out. But these days I can simply do `cargo test`, `cargo run`, and `cargo add`. I looked up what fat jar is and found this: https://stackoverflow.com/a/36539885

Seriously? This XML reminds me of the issues that I had when I first started Java, what the hell does any of these mean (yes, yes, RTFM) but then I could also just use another language and be done with it?

Fun fact - cargo, npm and other package managers for programming languages were inspired by java maven.

Java is still using maven architecture (even if you use gradle to interact with them).

I'd argue Java was the first language to get dependency management right - you have 1 place you put all your dependencies - globally uniquely identified and versioned, downloading and building them is automated. It's especially jarring when you compare to the chaos in C++ land.

Again, that's why you should have a look. You're badly misinformed. No need for XML or maven. You can just run ./gradlew test and stuff like that.