whats the difference between "building" and "compiling"?

whats the difference between "building" and "compiling"?

In C++ compiling is just converting the source code to binary, building is compiling plus linking with any other needed files to make an .exe file. I have never heard of someone building a Java application or applet though. Maybe someone could clarify (or correct me if I'm wrong :))?

Sometimes there's no difference. In a project with more than one source file, a build will refer to a complete compiling of all the sources and executable generation so that actual testing can occur.

cudabean

whats is "linking" anyway?
i have the option to do both inthe project menu of NetBeans

http://www.vbforums.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=779318

and i was wondering what they do.

also what are "Beans" really?

With J2EE, building a project means much more than compiling it. (think of jar, war, ear files). It covers the definition of 'building' as much as building an executable.

When creating executables, source code is compiled into object files, with relative references to each other. A build will link these object files into machine code with hard references (the executable).

It's also the difference whether your application can run stand-alone (build) or inside an interpreter (compile; actually a Java VM is an interpreter). You could say that J2EE applications also run 'standalone' on an application server.