Artifact Analysis

About

Artifact Analysis is the process of inspecting and debugging packaged build outputs like JAR, WAR, EAR, or ZIP files. These artifacts are typically generated by build tools such as Maven or Gradle and deployed to servers, containers, or client machines.

Analyzing artifacts helps identify issues related to missing classes, incorrect dependencies, resource loading problems, packaging errors, and misconfigurations in the build process.

Common Use Cases

• Verifying if all classes and resources are packaged correctly

• Checking for duplicate or conflicting classes in shaded or fat JARs

• Confirming that MANIFEST.MF is correctly configured (e.g., Main-Class)

• Identifying missing or misaligned dependencies

• Validating web resources in WAR files (WEB-INF, META-INF, etc.)

• Comparing two versions of artifacts for debugging regression issues

• Troubleshooting classpath issues in deployed environments

Common Artifact Types

Type	Description
JAR (Java Archive)	Used for packaging Java classes and libraries.
WAR (Web Application Archive)	Used for packaging web applications (includes JSPs, servlets, web.xml).
EAR (Enterprise Archive)	Used in Java EE for combining multiple modules (JARs, WARs).
ZIP	Generic compressed archive; often used for distribution.

Typical Issues Found

• ClassNotFoundException or NoClassDefFoundError due to missing classes

• Resources not loading (e.g., FileNotFoundException for .properties or .xml)

• Duplicate classes causing version conflicts

• Incorrect structure (e.g., web.xml not under WEB-INF)

• Missing or incorrect Main-Class in MANIFEST.MF

• Incorrect packaging type in pom.xml (e.g., jar vs war)

• Conflicts due to transitive dependencies

Tools for Artifact Analysis

Tool	Type	Description
jar (Java SDK)	CLI	Built-in Java tool to view, extract, and modify JAR files. Use jar -tf, jar -xf, and jar -uf.
unzip	CLI	Command-line utility to extract ZIP-based archives like JAR, WAR, and EAR.
jd-cli	CLI	Decompiles .class files inside JARs to Java source for inspection.
jdeps	CLI	Java Dependency Analysis Tool. Shows package-level and class-level dependencies.
javap	CLI	Java class file disassembler. Use to inspect bytecode-level details.
Maven Dependency Plugin (mvn dependency:tree)	Build Tool Plugin	Shows resolved dependencies and helps detect conflicts or missing jars.
Gradle Dependency Insight (./gradlew dependencies)	Build Tool Plugin	Similar to Maven, useful for inspecting resolved dependencies and transitive conflicts.
Apache Tika	CLI / API	Can detect file types and metadata inside archives (e.g., MIME type validation).
ClassScavenger / Classpath Hell Analyzers	GUI / CLI	Tools to scan JARs for duplicate classes or conflicting versions in the classpath.
JarAnalyzer (OWASP)	GUI	Analyzes JARs for common security risks, duplicates, and outdated libraries.
JARScan / WARScan	GUI / CLI	Scans .jar and .war files for content, metadata, and known issues.
Beyond Compare / Meld / WinMerge	GUI	File and directory diff tools used to compare contents of two artifacts.
IDE (IntelliJ IDEA / Eclipse / VS Code)	GUI	Built-in archive viewers, decompilers, and dependency visualizers.

Which Tool to Use When?

Use Case	Recommended Tools
View or extract contents of JAR/WAR	jar, unzip, IntelliJ
Compare two artifacts	Beyond Compare, Meld
View class-level dependency graph	jdeps, Maven/Gradle dependency tools
Identify duplicate classes or version conflicts	Classpath Hell analyzers, mvn dependency:tree
Decompile .class files	jd-cli, IntelliJ, javap
Inspect manifest file and metadata	jar -xf, IDEs
Troubleshoot missing or misloaded resources	unzip, jar, file structure checks