It seems you would want - the service to post a hash of the required dependency/DL JAR file that it expects you to use; this not only helps guarantee authenticity, but also allows the client to recognize when it already has the correct version available, and when a DL JAR has been updated (e.g. the local version needs to be replaced or updated with a new version)
- some sort of naming/coordinate system for the JAR files. Several JVM lang communities seem to be agreeing that whatever its other faults, Maven's means of identifying artifacts is convenient (groupId:artifactId:version:classifier:scope etc). - some flexibility in how the install of the JAR takes place. There are several toolchains already in place, such as Maven, and Sun is working on one for Project Jigsaw which also installs "modules" to the local system. At our shop we haven't ever had the need to update the service DL JAR on-the-fly, so the dynamic aspects of codebase downloads are more of a thing to worry about, not something to enjoy. Patrick
