IKVM.MSBuild
8.9.0
Prefix Reserved
See the version list below for details.
dotnet add package IKVM.MSBuild --version 8.9.0
NuGet\Install-Package IKVM.MSBuild -Version 8.9.0
<PackageReference Include="IKVM.MSBuild" Version="8.9.0" />
paket add IKVM.MSBuild --version 8.9.0
#r "nuget: IKVM.MSBuild, 8.9.0"
// Install IKVM.MSBuild as a Cake Addin #addin nuget:?package=IKVM.MSBuild&version=8.9.0 // Install IKVM.MSBuild as a Cake Tool #tool nuget:?package=IKVM.MSBuild&version=8.9.0
IKVM - Java Virtual Machine for .NET
What is IKVM?
IKVM is an implementation of Java for the Microsoft .NET platform. It can be used to quickly and easily:
- Execute compiled Java code (bytecode) on .NET Framework or .NET Core
- Convert bytecode to a .NET assembly to directly access its API in a .NET project
These tasks can be done without porting source code to .NET.
IKVM Components
- A Java virtual machine (JVM) implemented in .NET
- A .NET implementation of the Java class libraries
- A tool that translates Java bytecode (JAR files) to .NET IL (DLL or EXE files).
- Tools that enable Java and .NET interoperability
- A full JRE/JDK 8 runtime image.
Run Java Applications with .NET
- Statically: By compiling a Java application into a .NET assembly using
<MavenReference>
,<IkvmReference>
orikvmc
.- Library assemblies can be referenced by any .NET application with a compatible target framework and platform. Types can be referenced by using the Java package name like a .NET namespace.
- Executable assemblies can be launched by specifying the class containing the
main()
method to execute at runtime when building usingikvmc
.
- Dynamically: By running a Java application using the
java
executable inside of the JDK Runtime Image. The Java bytecode is converted on-the-fly to CIL and executed. The experience should be identical to a normal JDK.
What IKVM is Not
- A converter utility to transform Java source code to C# source code
- A decompiler utitity to transform compiled Java bytecode to C# source code
- A tool that runs .NET code in Java - all IKVM conversions are Java > .NET
Support
- .NET Framework 4.7.2 and higher (SDK-style projects)
- .NET 6 and higher
- Java SE 8
- Windows x86/x64/ARM/ARM64
- Linux x64/ARM/ARM64 (GLIBC and MUSL)
- Mac OS X x64/arm64
Various differences exist between support for all of our different artifacts. For instance, there are some platforms we cannot distribute images for and some platforms we cannot distribute tools for.
Installation
NuGet
PM> Install-Package IKVM
Or, to use MavenReference
:
PM> Install-Package IKVM.Maven.Sdk
Tools
The tools are available for download on the Releases page.
Runtime Images
Both a JRE and JDK runtime image are available. These images are standard JRE or JDK directory structures containing all of the standard tools: javac, jdeps, policytool, keytool, etc. Some Java libraries may require either a JRE or JDK, and if so, the IKVM.Image.JRE
or IKVM.Image.JDK
package should be added to your project.
PM> Install-Package IKVM.Image.JRE
PM> Install-Package IKVM.Image.JDK
A standalone JDK distributable is available for download on the Releases page. This directory structure should suffice as a JAVA_HOME
path for standard Java applications.
Usage
IKVM supports integration with .NET SDK-style projects as well as low level tools for running compiled Java code directly or for advanced build scenarios. The 2 main entry points for integration with the .NET SDK-style projects are IkvmReference
and MavenReference
. .NET SDK-style projects can be built on the command line directly or using an IDE that supports them, such as recent versions Visual Studio or JetBrains Rider.
IkvmReference
IKVM includes build-time support for translating Java libraries to .NET assemblies. Install the IKVM
package in a project that requires references to Java libraries. Use IkvmReference
within an ItemGroup
to indicate which Java libraries your project requires.
Example
<ItemGroup>
<PackageReference Include="IKVM" Version="Version" />
</ItemGroup>
<ItemGroup>
<IkvmReference Include="..\..\ext\helloworld\helloworld-2.0.jar" />
</ItemGroup>
The output assembly will be generated as part of your project's build process and a reference will automatically be added to your project so you can call APIs of the compiled .jar
assembly. Additional metadata can be added to IkvmReference
to customize the assembly that is generated.
Syntax
<ItemGroup>
<IkvmReference Include="..\..\ext\helloworld\helloworld-2.0.jar">
<AssemblyName>MyAssembly</AssemblyName>
<AssemblyVersion>3.2.1.0</AssemblyVersion>
<AssemblyFileVersion>3.0.0.0</AssemblyFileVersion>
<DisableAutoAssemblyName>true</DisableAutoAssemblyName>
<DisableAutoAssemblyVersion>true</DisableAutoAssemblyVersion>
<FallbackAssemblyName>MyAssemblyFallback</FallbackAssemblyName>
<FallbackAssemblyVersion>3.1.0.0</FallbackAssemblyVersion>
<KeyFile>MyKey.snk</KeyFile>
<DelaySign>true</DelaySign>
<Compile>SomeInternalDependency.jar;SomeOtherInternalDependency.jar</Compile>
<Sources>MyClass.java;YourClass.java</Sources>
<References>SomeExternalDependency.jar;SomeOtherExternalDependency.jar</References>
<Aliases>MyAssemblyAlias;helloworld2_0</Aliases>
<Debug>portable</Debug>
</IkvmReference>
</ItemGroup>
Attributes and Elements
The following values can be used as either an attribute or a nested element of <IkvmReference>
.
Attribute or Element | Description |
---|---|
Include (attribute only) |
The identity of the IkvmReference item. The value can be one of: <ul><li>path to a JAR file</li><li>path to a directory</li><li>an otherwise unimportant name</li></ul> |
AssemblyName |
By default the AssemblyName is generated using the rules defined by the Automatic-Module-Name specification. To override this, do so here. The value should not include a file extension, .dll will be appended automatically. |
AssemblyVersion |
By default the AssemblyVersion is generated using the rules defined by the Automatic-Module-Name specification. To override this, do so here. |
AssemblyFileVersion |
By default the AssemblyFileVersion is generated using the rules defined by the Automatic-Module-Name specification or, if overridden, the same value as AssemblyVersion . To override this, do so here. |
DisableAutoAssemblyName |
If true disables detection of AssemblyName . |
DisableAutoAssemblyVersion |
If true disables detection of AssemblyVersion . |
FallbackAssemblyName |
If AssemblyName is not provided or cannot be calculated, use this value. |
FallbackAssemblyVersion |
If AssemblyVersion is not provided or cannot be calculated, use this value. |
KeyFile |
Specifies the filename containing the cryptographic key. When this option is used, the compiler inserts the public key from the specified file into the assembly manifest and then signs the final assembly with the private key. |
DelaySign |
This option causes the compiler to reserve space in the output file so that a digital signature can be added later. Use DelaySign if you only want to place the public key in the assembly. The DelaySign option has no effect unless used with KeyFile . |
Compile |
A semi-colon separated list of Java class path items to compile into the assembly. By default this value is the Identity of the item, if the identity of the item is an existing JAR file or directory (not yet supported). MSBuild globs are supported to reference multiple JAR or .class files. |
Sources |
A semi-colon separated list of Java source files to use during documentation generation. (not yet supported) |
References |
Optional semi-colon separated list of other IkvmReference identity values to specify as a reference to the current one. For example, if foo.jar depends on bar.jar , include both as IkvmReference items, but specify the identity of bar.jar on the References metadata of foo.jar . |
Debug |
Optional value indicating how to generate debug symbols. By default this is determined based on the <DebugType> properties of the project. Only full debug symbols are currently supported. |
Aliases |
A semi-colon separated list of aliases that can be used to reference the assembly in References . |
ClassLoader |
A fully qualified classs name of the custom ClassLoader implementation to use as a delegation parent. Examples include ikvm.runtime.AppDomainAssemblyClassLoader and ikvm.runtime.ClassPathAssemblyClassLoader . |
All other metadata supported on the Reference MSBuild item group definition. |
IkvmReference
is not transitive. Including it in one project and adding a dependency to that project from a second
project will not result in the same reference being available on the second project. Instead, add the reference to
each project.
For each project to resolve to the same resulting assembly ensure their settings are identical.
Multiple IkvmReference
entries can be configured to include each other as references.
<ItemGroup>
<IkvmReference Include="helloworld.jar">
<AssemblyVersion>1.0.0.0</AssemblyVersion>
</IkvmReference>
<IkvmReference Include="helloworld-2.jar">
<AssemblyName>helloworld-2</AssemblyName>
<AssemblyVersion>2.0.0.0</AssemblyVersion>
<References>helloworld.jar</References>
<Aliases>helloworld2</Aliases>
</IkvmReference>
</ItemGroup>
Automatic-Module-Name
Specification
The Automatic-Module-Name
is either a specified attribute of the JAR manifest, which can be found in the META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
file inside the JAR, or a generated value based on the name of the JAR file. See the documentation for more information.
MavenReference
See the ikvm-maven Readme for usage instructions.
Notice To Project Owners
The IKVM project recommends that people do not redistribute FOSS Java libraries compiled with IKVM over public systems such as NuGet.org, unless you are the original owner of that software and have a compelling reason.
Creating copies of FOSS Java libraries and publishing them to distribution mechanisms such as NuGet.org creates eco-system confusion and dependency conflicts downstream. We provide a system so that .NET users of Java libraries can reference those libraries directly out of the standard Java ecosystem mechanisms: Maven Central, etc though IKVM.Maven. Remember, very few libraries exist in a vacuum. Libraries often depend on dozens of other libraries. Two unrelated Java libraries often depend on the same underlying Java library. A complex method of dependency conflict resolution and version unification has to be involved in resolving this hierarchy for any individual downstream project. You are likely going to be introducing duplicate classes into the users of your versions, or causing your users to depend upon the wrong version of other libraries.
In addition to the above, we presently do not guarentee that API between statically compiled assemblies and the IKVM.Java and IKVM.Runtime libraries remains stable. A statically compiled assembly built against one version of IKVM is not guarenteed to run against a higher version of IKVM, even at the patch level. We would like to advertise better support for this in the future, but at present there is a lot of work planned for the IKVM.Runtime and IKVM.Java APIs that we don't want to inhibit. Since we also provide build tools to make the process of recompiling assemblies from the build machine easy, if recommendations are followed, this should be of limited impact.
There are exceptions to this advice, such as the library not being published to Maven. In that case, guidance would be to advocate that the original Java library in fact be published to Maven, or do the work yourself, as that is the appropriate place for Java libraries.
We cannot force you to conform to this advice. But for the health of the ecosystem, we urge you to take it under consideration yourself.
Product | Versions Compatible and additional computed target framework versions. |
---|---|
.NET | net5.0 was computed. net5.0-windows was computed. net6.0 is compatible. net6.0-android was computed. net6.0-ios was computed. net6.0-maccatalyst was computed. net6.0-macos was computed. net6.0-tvos was computed. net6.0-windows was computed. net7.0 was computed. net7.0-android was computed. net7.0-ios was computed. net7.0-maccatalyst was computed. net7.0-macos was computed. net7.0-tvos was computed. net7.0-windows was computed. net8.0 is compatible. net8.0-android was computed. net8.0-browser was computed. net8.0-ios was computed. net8.0-maccatalyst was computed. net8.0-macos was computed. net8.0-tvos was computed. net8.0-windows was computed. |
.NET Core | netcoreapp2.0 was computed. netcoreapp2.1 was computed. netcoreapp2.2 was computed. netcoreapp3.0 was computed. netcoreapp3.1 was computed. |
.NET Standard | netstandard2.0 is compatible. netstandard2.1 was computed. |
.NET Framework | net461 was computed. net462 was computed. net463 was computed. net47 was computed. net471 was computed. net472 was computed. net48 was computed. net481 was computed. |
MonoAndroid | monoandroid was computed. |
MonoMac | monomac was computed. |
MonoTouch | monotouch was computed. |
Tizen | tizen40 was computed. tizen60 was computed. |
Xamarin.iOS | xamarinios was computed. |
Xamarin.Mac | xamarinmac was computed. |
Xamarin.TVOS | xamarintvos was computed. |
Xamarin.WatchOS | xamarinwatchos was computed. |
-
.NETFramework 4.7.2
- IKVM.MSBuild.Tools (>= 8.9.0)
-
net6.0
- IKVM.MSBuild.Tools (>= 8.9.0)
-
net8.0
- IKVM.MSBuild.Tools (>= 8.9.0)
NuGet packages (2)
Showing the top 2 NuGet packages that depend on IKVM.MSBuild:
Package | Downloads |
---|---|
IKVM
Java SE 8 Virtual Machine for .NET |
|
SaxonHE10Net31
This is the result of IKVM cross-compiling the Saxon HE 10.9 Java software to .NET 6 and .NET 8. |
GitHub repositories (1)
Showing the top 1 popular GitHub repositories that depend on IKVM.MSBuild:
Repository | Stars |
---|---|
ikvmnet/ikvm
A Java Virtual Machine and Bytecode-to-IL Converter for .NET
|
Version | Downloads | Last updated |
---|---|---|
8.10.0-pre.1 | 344 | 8/14/2024 |
8.9.1 | 9,640 | 7/14/2024 |
8.9.0 | 1,536 | 7/12/2024 |
8.9.0-pre.3 | 534 | 7/10/2024 |
8.8.1 | 18,171 | 5/31/2024 |
8.8.0 | 30,371 | 4/17/2024 |
8.8.0-pre.1 | 831 | 3/28/2024 |
8.7.6 | 3,403 | 4/8/2024 |
8.7.5 | 65,429 | 1/28/2024 |
8.7.4 | 9,349 | 1/18/2024 |
8.7.3 | 25,001 | 12/9/2023 |
8.7.2 | 3,523 | 12/8/2023 |
8.7.1 | 73,880 | 11/1/2023 |
8.7.0 | 2,317 | 10/30/2023 |
8.7.0-pre.3 | 479 | 10/27/2023 |
8.7.0-pre.2 | 978 | 10/16/2023 |
8.7.0-pre.1 | 1,079 | 10/10/2023 |
8.6.4 | 80,550 | 9/10/2023 |
8.6.3-tags-8-6-3-pre-24.1 | 1,330 | 8/10/2023 |
8.6.3-tags-8-6-3-pre-11.1 | 422 | 8/8/2023 |
8.6.2 | 82,153 | 7/9/2023 |
8.6.1 | 10,657 | 7/7/2023 |
8.6.0 | 3,548 | 7/5/2023 |
8.5.2 | 29,320 | 6/7/2023 |
8.5.1 | 9,216 | 6/2/2023 |
8.5.0 | 11,667 | 5/14/2023 |
8.5.0-prerelease0001 | 615 | 5/12/2023 |
8.5.0-develop2513 | 1,104 | 5/4/2023 |
8.5.0-develop1599 | 742 | 5/3/2023 |
8.5.0-develop0690 | 2,742 | 2/8/2023 |
8.4.5 | 82,967 | 2/7/2023 |
8.4.5-prerelease0001 | 729 | 2/6/2023 |
8.4.4 | 48,061 | 1/2/2023 |
8.4.4-prerelease0001 | 813 | 1/2/2023 |
8.4.3 | 1,516 | 1/1/2023 |
8.4.2 | 11,902 | 12/30/2022 |
8.4.1 | 3,825 | 12/28/2022 |
8.4.0 | 21,500 | 12/6/2022 |
8.4.0-prerelease0001 | 1,263 | 11/26/2022 |
8.3.3 | 51,898 | 11/20/2022 |
8.3.2 | 6,414 | 11/17/2022 |
8.3.1 | 7,496 | 11/17/2022 |
8.3.0 | 7,397 | 11/16/2022 |
8.3.0-prerelease0395 | 6,550 | 10/30/2022 |
8.3.0-prerelease0394 | 4,383 | 10/26/2022 |
8.2.2-prerelease0856 | 4,325 | 10/12/2022 |
8.2.2-prerelease0553 | 4,928 | 9/21/2022 |
8.2.2-prerelease0396 | 3,791 | 9/20/2022 |
8.2.2-prerelease0241 | 3,742 | 9/5/2022 |
8.2.2-prerelease0163 | 5,946 | 8/26/2022 |