[java] how to open a jar file in Eclipse

Firstly, it's necessary to know what is a jar file.

From Oracle,

JAR (Java Archive) is a platform-independent file format that aggregates many files into one. Multiple Java applets and their requisite components (.class files, images and sounds) can be bundled in a JAR file and subsequently downloaded to a browser in a single HTTP transaction, greatly improving the download speed. The JAR format also supports compression, which reduces the file size, further improving the download time.

As you can see,

  1. It has nothing to do with a Eclipse project. An Eclipse project can be a Java project, C++ project and so on. It's just a self contain project that can be recognized and operated as an unit by Eclipse.
  2. The .class files are generally the main part of a jar file. It's impossible to view the source code(.java file) unless you decompile the executable file(.class file) by some tools. Take Eclipse for example, you can choose the plugin Eclipse Class Decompiler as the tool.