An answer to a question I read today suggested deploying an application as an exploded (unzipped) WAR. It got me thinking.
Every deployment I've ever done to a JBoss/Tomcat has been with a a WAR/EAR file. At least as far as I can remember.
Have I been making a mistake all these years?
Are there advantages to deploying an app in its expanded form rather than packaged up?
The only real benefit you receive from deploying an exploded ear/war is the ability to hot-swap files on the server, as well as the time saved on the packaging (which IMHO is negligible).
Basically - this is a useful feature for development phases. I wouldn't choose this deployment method for a production environment.
There are also some web application servers which require exploded wars for some esoteric features, but this is nothing I've encountered in regular usage.