In the previous chapters, we've learned about some advanced concepts relating to Java modularity, including handling readability and accessibility of module relationships, and the powerful concept of services. In this chapter, we'll move on to the final step in any application development--building and packaging your application.

Here's what you'll learn in this chapter:

• You'll learn about the module resolution process, an important process that happens every time you compile or execute a modular Java application.
• You'll be introduced to a new phase in the development process--linking. Linking, or static linking, is a new step in Java 9 modular development. It sits between the familiar compilation and execution phases that you should already be familiar with. In this chapter, you'll understand what linking is and the benefits of this step.
• You'll learn how to use jlink, the new tool built into the platform to facilitate the linking phase and help build runtime images.
• You'll learn about some jlink plugins that optimize runtime images that are created by jlink.
• You'll learn how to build a modular JAR file, which is an alternative way to distribute your compiled library modules for use in other applications.